Board of Commissioners of Greene County v. Shertzer
| Decision Date | 25 June 1920 |
| Docket Number | 10,790 |
| Citation | 127 N.E. 843,73 Ind.App. 589 |
| Parties | BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA v. SHERTZER ET AL |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
From the Industrial Board of Indiana.
Proceeding under the Workmen's Compensation Act by Jennie M Shertzer and another against the board of commissioners of Greene county, Indiana. From an award to the applicants, the employer appeals.
Affirmed.
William L. Cavins, D. W. McIntosh and Guy H. Humphreys, for appellant.
William L. Slinkard, for appellees.
The superintendent of the county poor asylum of Greene county, by oral direction of the board of commissioners of the county, the appellant herein, employed one John H. Shertzer, a painter and paperhanger, to do certain painting and paperhanging, for which work said Shertzer was to receive fifty cents an hour for painting and thirty cents a roll for hanging the paper. Appellant was to, and did, furnish the necessary ladders and scaffolding, and was also to select and furnish the paints, paper and other materials to be used in the work. Shertzer was to be "his own boss" as to how the paint and paper was to be put on. A few minutes after he had eaten a hearty dinner, and while doing the work, Shertzer fell from a ladder on which he was standing, and upon the floor of the room where the work was being done. When asked how he came to fall, he replied that he "became dizzy, and seemed to be going round and round." As a result of the injuries thus received, Shertzer died ten days later. The physician who attended him stated that dizziness, such as was complained of by Shertzer, might have been the result of eating an excessive meal.
Appellees, who were the dependents of Shertzer, made application to the Industrial Board for compensation, and, upon hearing evidence showing the above facts, the board found that Shertzer at the time of his injury was in the employment of appellant, and that his death was the result of an accident arising out of and in the course of such employment, and made an award in favor of appellee Jennie M. Shertzer.
Appellant has assigned as error that the award is not sustained by sufficient evidence, and is contrary to law.
It is first urged by appellant that Shertzer at the time of the accident which resulted in his death was an independent contractor, and that there is no evidence to sustain the finding of the Industrial Board that he was at the time in the employment of appellant.
It appears from the evidence, as above stated, that Shertzer was hired to do the painting and paperhanging, the materials to be selected and furnished by appellant; that appellant was to supply the ladders and scaffolding required in the conduct of the work, and that his compensation was to be fifty cents an hour for the painting, and thirty cents a roll for the papering. Under such contract Shertzer could...
To continue reading
Request your trial