Dameron v. Spartan Mills

• Decision Date: 03 October 1947
• Docket Number: 15994.
• Parties: DAMERON v. SPARTAN MILLS et al.
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court

44 S.E.2d 465

211 S.C. 217

DAMERON v. SPARTAN MILLS et al.

No. 15994.

Supreme Court of South Carolina

October 3, 1947

Osborne, Butler & Moore, of Spartanburg, for appellants.

J Allen Lambright and Clarence C. Brown, both of Spartanburg for respondent.

TAYLOR Justice.

The respondent suffered an injury arising out of and in the course of her employment on or about August 15, 1944, while employed by the Spartan Mills of Spartanburg, South Carolina who operates under the South Carolina Workmen's Compensation Act with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company as its insurance carrier. A claim was duly filed and a hearing held before a Single Commissioner November 20 1945, which resulted in an award for the claimant for total disability, with the defendant being given credit for the time worked. The pertinent parts of which are as follows:

'It Is Ordered that the defendants shall pay compensation to the claimant, Mrs. Eula Dameron, at the compensable wage of $14.23, until such time as she has reached maximum improvement and the defendants shall take credit for any time that she has worked.

'It Is Further Ordered that the defendants shall pay all medical expense incidental to this injury.

'It Is Further Ordered that the defendants shall pay the standing hearing costs.'

In due time, an appeal was taken to the Commission as a whole, who affirmed the findings of the Hearing Commissioner in toto. Thereafter, an appeal was taken to the Circuit Court, which in turn affirmed the findings of the Commission; and defendant now appeals to this Court upon exceptions which present but two questions, i. e.:

1. If an employee suffers a general disability as the result of an injury, but is drawing wages less in amount than those at the time of injury, should compensation be awarded for partial disability under Section 30, Code, Section 7035-33, or for total disability under Section 29, Code, Section 7035-32, giving employer and carrier credit for such wages as are earned.

2. Can the Commission impose costs on the grounds that a case has been defended without reasonable grounds where there has been no notice or opportunity to be heard on the question, and where the record shows substantial doubt as to the validity of the claim for compensation?

The right to workmen's compensation is wholly statutory and exists only under the circumstances provided in the Workmen's Compensation Act. The right of any claimant to compensation is dependent upon the terms of the Act, and the criterion of the right of a claimant to compensation is whether or not his or her injury has lessened claimant's capacity and deprived him or her in whole or in part to obtain employment. Marchbanks v. Duke Power Co., 190 S.C. 336, 2 S.E.2d 825; Manning v. Gossett Mills, 192 S.C. 262, 6 S.E.2d 256.

The object of the 'Workmen's Compensation Act is to compensate for, or relieve from, the loss or impairment of an employee's capacity to earn * * * and not to indemnify for any physical ailment or impairment as such, except in the classes of case specifically provided in the Act; to exclude from allowable elements of compensation everything except diminution of earning power.' Burnette v. Startex Mills, 195 S.C. 118, 10 S.E.2d 164, 166; see also Jewell v. R. B. Pond Co., 198 S.C. 86, 15 S.E.2d 684; Ingle v. Mills, 204 S.C. 505, 30 S.E.2d 301; Parrott v. Barfield Used Parts, 206 S.C. 381, 34 S.E.2d 802.

In the case of Ashley v. Ware Shoals Manufacturing Co., 210 S.C. 273, 42 S.E.2d 390, 394, this Court said: 'Under the terms of Section 7035-32, where the incapacity for work is total, the injured employee receives a weekly compensation equal to a stipulated percentum of his average weekly wages 'during such total disability', but not exceeding a period of five hundred weeks. * * * Section 7035-33 provides for compensation for partial disability, the right to which, as in the case of total disability, remains only so long as the disability continues. Under the terms of Section 7035-49, the Industrial Commission is authorized to review any award 'on the ground of a change in condition' and 'may make an award ending, diminishing, or increasing the compensation previously awarded.''

Claimant sustained her injuries on or about August 15, 1944, and the hearing was held November 20, 1945, a period of approximately fifteen months having elapsed between the time of injury and the hearing. At irregular intervals during this time, she was...