Ætna Life Ins. Co v. Davis

• Decision Date: 18 February 1931
• Docket Number: No. 7731.,7731.
• Citation: 172 Ga. 258,157 S.E. 449
• Parties: ÆTNA LIFE INS. CO. et al. v. DAVIS.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

172 Ga. 258

157 S.E. 449

ÆTNA LIFE INS. CO. et al.

v.DAVIS.

No. 7731.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Feb. 18, 1931.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 28, 1931.

Syllabus by Editorial Staff.

[Ed. Note—For other definitions of "Administrative, " see Words and Phrases.]

RUSSELL, C. J., and HINES, J., dissenting.

Certiorari to Court of Appeals.

Proceedings under the Workmen's Compensation Act by C. T. Davis, employee, claimant, opposed by the Ætna Life Insurance Company, insurer, and the Haverty Furniture Company, employer. Judgment of the superior court reversing an award of compensation by the Industrial Commission was reversed, with directions by the Court of Appeals (41 Ga. App. 113, 151 S. E. 812), and the employer and insurer bring certiorari.

Reversed.

C. T. Davis, an employee of the Haverty Furniture Company, suffered an injury May 15, 1928. The employer immediately paid temporary compensation for two weeks and applied to the Industrial Commission to determine whether there was any permanent injury. At the hearing July 10, 1928, Davis, the employee, testified, in substance, that previous to the accident he had not had any trouble with his back and head; that in the accident he was struck on the head by an elevator door; that since that time his hearing was bad; that he could not hear as well as he could before the accident; that his back troubled him and he suffered great pain in his back and head; that, as a result he could not work as he did before the accident, and could not lift without pain and could not carry heavy loads on his shoulder, as he could before the accident; that he was not physically able to do the work he was doing before the accident, on account of his back and head; that he has suffered continually with headache ever since he had the accident, and his ear was troubling him and getting worse.

There was also medical testimony concerning all of the injuries to the claimant's face and head, including an X-ray picture of his head, and also trouble with his ear and back. The Industrial Commissioner made the following finding of fact: "From a preponderance of the testimony, I find as a matter of fact that this claimant has no permanent injury as a result of the accident he sustained while in the employ of Haverty Furniture Company and that he recovered from the injuries sustained in said accident. Also that if he is suffering pains in his back and in his ear, that the same was not produced by the accident, which the medical testimony shows only caused superficial wounds and which could not have produced the ear trouble and the back trouble now complained of by this claimant. I further find from the testimony that there is no connecting link between the injury sustained by the accident and the pains complained of in his back and ears." This award was dated August 18, 1928. On February 14, 1929, Davis applied to the commission for compensation on the ground that there had been "a change in his condition."

A hearing was had February 4, 1929, on this application, at which hearing evidence was introduced to show that Davis suffers from a nervous disorder, has spells of unconsciousness, a fungus growth in the ear, and an intercranial pressure on the brain which an X-ray examination has disclosed. The Industrial Commission made an award March 5, 1929, reversing the award of August 18, 1928, on the ground that there had been a change of condition of the claimant since the date of that award. The employer...