Bergren v. S. E. Gustafson Const. Co.
Decision Date | 04 February 1955 |
Docket Number | No. 9452,9452 |
Citation | 75 S.D. 497,68 N.W.2d 477 |
Parties | Geraldine BERGREN, Claimant and Respondent, v. S. E. GUSTAFSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, Employer, and Travelers Insurance Company, Insurer, Appellants. |
Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith, and Robert C. Heege, Sioux Falls, for employer, insurer and appellants.
Boyce, Warren, Murphy & McDowell, Sioux Falls, for claimant and respondent.
Whether the death of the employee in the course of his employment, which resulted directly from lightning, is an injury arising out of his employment, is the question presented by this appeal in a workmen's compensation proceeding.
The principal finding from which the Industrial Commissioner concluded the injury was not compensable reads as follows:
The circuit court reviewed the record on appeal and concluded that the single inference reasonably to be drawn from the undisputed facts is that the employment exposed the employee to a greater risk or hazard from lightning than the general public, and hence that the injury arose from the employment and is compensable. The denial of award was therefore accordingly reversed and the Commissioner was directed to amend the findings and make a proper award of compensation to the claimant. The employer and its carrier have appealed to this court. We affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
The statute defines 'injury' or 'personal injury' as only injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment. SDC 64.0102(4). As we have indicated, our sole concern is whether the described injury did arise out of the employment. It is conceded that the injury was accidental and in the course of the employment.
A recognized purpose of the Workmen's Compensation Act, SDC 64.0101 et seq., is to transfer from the worker to the employer, and ultimately to the public, a greater portion of the economic loss due to industrial accidents and injuries. 58 Am.Jur., Workmen's Compensation, Sec. 2, p. 576. The act is remedial and should be liberally construed. Meyer v. Roettele, 64 S.D. 36, 264 N.W. 191; Wilhelm v. Narregang-Hart Co., 66 S.D. 155, 279 N.W. 549; and Schwan v. Premack, 70 S.D. 371, 17 N.W.2d 911.
The phrase 'arising out of * * * the employment' has been considered by this court. In Anderson v. Hotel Cataract, 70 S.D. 376, 17 N.W.2d 913, 916, we quoted with approval from the Minnesota court in Hanson v. Robitshek-Schneider Co., 209 Minn. 596, 297 N.W. 19, 21, as follows:
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Canal Ins. Co. v. Abraham, 20746
...exposed the employee while doing his work. Anderson v. Hotel Cataract, 70 S.D. 376, 17 N.W.2d 913 [1945]; Bergren v. S.E. Gustafson Construction Co., 75 S.D. 497, 68 N.W.2d 477 [1955]. The words "in the course of" refer to the time, place and circumstances under which the accident took plac......
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Grauel v. South Dakota School of Mines
...or proximate cause of injury...." Canal Ins. Co. v. Abraham, 1999 SD 90, ¶ 12, 598 N.W.2d 512, 516 (citing Bergren v. S.E. Gustafson Constr. Co., 75 S.D. 497, 68 N.W.2d 477 (1955); Anderson v. Hotel Cataract, 70 S.D. 376, 17 N.W.2d 913 (1945)). [¶ 12.] This Court recently rejected the incre......
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Podio v. American Colloid Co.
...Acts must be liberally construed applies to the law, not to the evidence offered to support a claim. Bergren v. Gustafson Construction Company, 75 S.D. 497, 68 N.W.2d 477. Accordingly, we hold that the finding of causal connection is without credible evidentiary support. In arriving at the ......
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King v. Johnson Bros. Const. Co.
...had denied compensation. The circuit court reversed and this court affirmed the circuit court. In Bergren v. S. E. Gustafson Construction Co., 75 S.D. 497, 68 N.W.2d 477, the Commissioner denied compensation and the circuit court reviewed the record on appeal and concluded the single reason......