Dulyea v. Shaw-Walker Co.

Decision Date15 March 1940
Docket NumberNo. 47.,47.
Citation292 Mich. 570,291 N.W. 10
PartiesDULYEA v. SHAW-WALKER CO. et al.
CourtMichigan Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Appeal from Department of Labor and Industry.

Proceeding under the Workmen's Compensation Act by Virginia Dulyea, widow of deceased employee, opposed by the Shaw-Walker Company, employer, and the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, insurance carrier. From an award of compensation, employer and insurance carrier appeal.

Affirmed.

Argued before the Entire Bench.

Alexander, McCaslin & Cholette, of Grand Rapids, for appellants.

Joseph T. Riley, of Muskegon, for appellee.

SHARPE, Justice.

Plaintiff, widow and sole dependent of Adrian D. Dulyea, sought an award of compensation by the department of labor and industry against Shaw-Walker Company for the death of her husband. There was an award of compensation and defendants appeal. The sole question involved is whether or not the injuries resulting in Adrian D. Dulyea's death were caused by an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment.

The facts are not in dispute. Adrian D. Dulyea was employed by defendant company in the card department getting out special orders. He was 31 years of age, about five feet ten inches tall and weighed 192 pounds. On the morning of May 19, 1938, at 11:02 a. m., Dulyea was discovered by a fellow employee slumped down on the stairway between the third and fourth floors with his head toward the third floor. He died shortly after being found and never regained consciousness. There were two marks on his head, one about two inches long on the top of his head, on the left side, extending from the hair line into the hair; and another on the right side of his face beginning in the region between the eye and ear and extending down to the corner of his mouth. Two teeth were also found to have been knocked out.

The evening before the accident, Dulyea had played ball. At about 2 a. m., on the day of the injury, he became ill apparently from dysentery. The morning of the day of the accident he left for work about 7:50. About 8:15, he spoke to his foreman and was given a physician's pass card. About 10:30 a. m., Dulyea talked to the company doctor who made regular morning calls at the factory. He was examined by the doctor and was found to be suffering from a gastric intestinal disturbance. Two minutes after leaving the foreman's office on the fourth floor, Dulyea was found lying on the stairway as before mentioned.

An autopsy was performed by Dr. Lange, a pathologist, upon authority of the county coroner and no evidence was found that decedent was suffering from coronary thrombosis, embolism or cerebral hemorrhage, conditions which might have caused decedent to collapse while he was going down the stairs.

The department of labor and industry found: ‘That the injuries which the deceased sustained and which resulted in his death were caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment is the only reasonable and logical inference which can be drawn from the instant fact situation.’

It is the claim of defendant company that the facts raise an inference that decedent fainted because of weakness from dysentery, which he was suffering at that time and which is manifested by fainting and loss of consciousness.

We recognize the rule that the burden...

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5 cases
  • Putnam v. Beechler
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • December 2, 1941
    ...Hydraulic Engineering Co., 192 Mich. 594, 159 N.W. 380, in which the employees were found dead, and also the case of Dulyea v. Shaw-Walker Co., 292 Mich. 570, 291 N.W. 10, in which the employee was found unconscious and died without regaining consciousness. In such cases there was no testim......
  • Zytkewick v. Ford Motor Co.
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • September 8, 1954
    ...v. Fordney Hotel, 222 Mich. 525, 193 N.W. 204; Woodburn v. Oliver Machinery Co., 257 Mich. 109, 241 N.W. 159; Dulyea v. Shaw-Walker Co., 292 Mich. 570, 291 N.W. 10. 'Department of labor and industry may draw reasonable inferences from established facts and circumstances but may not indulge ......
  • Byrne v. Clark Equip. Co.
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • June 10, 1942
    ...burden was upon plaintiff to establish her claim for compensation. Putnam v. Beechler, 299 Mich. 522, 300 N.W. 880;Dulyea v. Shaw-Walker Co., 292 Mich. 570, 291 N.W. 10. It was incumbent upon her to prove that her decedent's hernia injury was the proximate cause of his death. The department......
  • Harris v. General Motors Corp.
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • April 16, 2010
    ...Notably, neither the WCAC majority nor the Court of Appeals addressed the cases cited by the WCAC dissent. Ledbetter and McClain also ignored Dulyea, Woodburn, and the other cases cited by the WCAC dissent. The Court of Appeals majority in McClain simply announced, without citation, that un......
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