Chisholm v. Jahncke Dry Docks, Inc.

• Decision Date: 01 April 1929
• Docket Number: 11,446
• Citation: 10 La.App. 323,121 So. 684
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
• Parties: CHISHOLM v. JAHNCKE DRY DOCKS, INC

121 So. 684

10 La.App. 323

CHISHOLM v. JAHNCKE DRY DOCKS, INC

No. 11,446

Court of Appeals of Louisiana, Orleans

April 1, 1929

Appeal from Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans, Division "C".Hon. E. K. Skinner, Judge.

Action by M. F. Chisholm against Jahncke Dry Docks, Inc.

There was judgment for plaintiff and defendant appealed.

Judgment reversed.

O. H Dabezies, of New Orleans, attorney for plaintiff, appellee.

Gordon Boswell, of New Orleans, attorney for defendant, appellant.

OPINION

WESTERFIELD J.

This is a suit under the Compensation Law.The sole question presented is whether plaintiff, an employee of defendant, was "seriously permanently disfigured about the face" within the meaning of clause 16 of paragraph (d) subsection 1, section 8 of Act 85 of 1926.

Plaintiff's alleged disfigurement consists of a scar three centimeters in length and one-third of a centimeter in width, running diagonally along the left side of his face in the region of the chin, which according to the medical testimony in the record, will gradually bleach out and narrow, become less apparent, and eventually be difficult of observation.

In holding that plaintiff was disfigured within the meaning of the section of the Compensation Law referred to, the trial judge based his conclusion upon the case of Dickson vs U. S. Glass Co.,3 La.App. 83, where it was held that "a scar extending from the upper border of the right eye-brow around the exterior arching of the eye down to about one-quarter of an inch above the middle of the cheek" was such disfigurement as was contemplated by the statute.In that case the scar was two and one-half inches long and one-half inch wide, while in the instant case the scar is considerably shorter and narrower (one and one-half by one-sixth inches); moreover, the same court(Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit)...