Gadsden Iron Works v. Beasley

• Decision Date: 10 April 1947
• Docket Number: 7 Div. 887.
• Citation: 30 So.2d 10,249 Ala. 115
• Parties: GADSDEN IRON WORKS, Inc., v. BEASLEY et al.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

30 So.2d 10

249 Ala. 115

GADSDEN IRON WORKS, Inc., v. BEASLEY et al.

7 Div. 887.

Supreme Court of Alabama

April 10, 1947

Lusk & Burns, of Gadsden, and Benners, Burr, Stokely &amp McKamy and M. L. Taliaferro, all of Birmingham, for appellant.

Joe Brown, of Gadsden, for appellee.

LIVINGSTON Justice.

Certiorari to review the ruling of the Circuit Court of Etowah County in a workmen's compensation case.

The action is by the widow and dependant children of John Beasley, deceased. Compliance with the technical rules as to pleading is not required in action under the Workmen's Compensation Law. Code 1940, Tit. 26, § 253 et seq. Sloss-Sheffield S. & I. Co. v. Watts, 236 Ala. 636, 184 So. 201; Randle v. Dumas, 229 Ala. 396, 157 So. 218; Alabama Concrete Pipe Co. v. Berry, 226 Ala. 204 146 So. 271; Ex parte Coleman, 211 Ala. 248, 100 So. 114; Ex parte National Pipe Co., 213 Ala. 605, 105 So. 693. Under these authorities, we hold that the petition in the instant case was sufficient, and not subject to the demurrers interposed.

The decree of the circuit court awarding compensation to petitioners for the death of their husband and father embodied recitations from the evidence, findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The chief difference between the parties arises on the question of whether the death of petitioners' husband and father was caused by an accident growing out of and in the course of his employment. Section 253, Title 26, Code.

In pertinent part, the decree of the trial court recites 'It appears from the pleadings, evidence and admissions in this case that on July 12, 1945, and for several years next prior thereto, John Beasley, plaintiff's intestate was an employee of the defendant, Gadsden Iron Works, as a pipe rammer or molder at defendant's plant in Gadsden, Etowah County, Alabama, within the jurisdiction of this court, and was on said day, towit, July 12, 1945, engaged in making sand flask or molds with the assistance of a fellow employee for the defendant, that each of said sank flask or molds weighed (370) three hundred and seventy pounds or more, that they were long and had two handles at each end by means of which they were, after having been made, lifted and carried by plaintiff's intestate and his said fellow employee a distance of from ten to fifteen feet and there deposited to be later filled with liquid or melted iron, which in turn became iron pipe, and when so made were stacked on the outside of the building in which said plaintiff's intestate was doing his work for defendant, but left in close proximity to said building and there allowed to cool.

'The evidence further shows that plaintiff's intestate and his fellow employee then and there assisting him were an hour late on said morning in starting their said work at defendant's said plant, but notwithstanding this, they had labored so hard, fast and uninterrupted that by eleven o'clock A.M. of said day they had made fifty or more of said sand flask or molds, had lifted and carried them as aforesaid, a distance of from ten to fifteen feet, this being the average number so made when they would or did start their said work an hour earlier. The evidence further shows that said flask or molds were made out of wet sand and packed into said flask or molds with a heavy iron hammer which weighed about seven pounds.

'The evidence further shows that around eleven o'clock on said morning, towit, July 12, 1945, the plaintiff's intestate and his fellow employee ate their lunch within said building wherein they were working, which took them from ten to fifteen minutes, and that immediately after having eaten their said lunch returned to their said work of making sand flasks or molds and had worked for only a few minutes until plaintiff's intestate made known to his fellow employee that a pain struck him in his breast (indicating with his hand) just where the pain was, but kept on working until he collapsed and died on the job.

'The evidence further shows that plaintiff's intestate was a large husky looking man weighing around two hundred pounds; that he had been doing hard manual labor all his life without interruption but for a few days or weeks when he remained at his home near Altoona, Alabama, and was treated there by his family physician, Dr. Samuels, who as a witness for the plaintiff after his qualifications were admitted, stated that in the Spring of 1945, around crop planting time, he attended said deceased for shortness of breath or smothering as complained about by plaintiff's intestate; his trouble he diagnosed as heart trouble, but after he had treated him for a few days or week or so, he dismissed around the latter part of May and he returned to his work for defendant about the first of June, 1945, and there continued to work for defendant, making sand flasks or molds up to and including the day of his death, without having made any further complaint to his said family doctor or any other doctor or person about his physical condition. * * *

'The evidence also shows, and was admitted by defendant, that plaintiff's intestate was on July 12, 1945, in its employ and had notice and actual knowledge of said accident and resulting death, but denied liability therefor.

'The evidence also shows that plaintiff's intestate performed his duties for defendant in a large building with windows and six or seven doors, the doors and some of the windows were open on said day. That said building was covered with sheet iron, and had within machinery, much of it made of iron, and a large cupola used to melt iron which was poured into said sand molds and made into pipes, which when made were carried outside the building, but within close proximity thereto, stacked and allowed to cool. That said cupola had not been heated on said day but had been heated the preceding day and the 'bottom knocked out' about four o'clock P.M., and that it was much hotter in the building where plaintiff's intestate did his work than on the outside of said building; some evidence however being to the effect that it was not much hotter on the inside than on the outside of building. Also, that there were other buildings extending entirely around said building, except the front, that were higher than the first or lower windows in said building which obstructed flow of air into and out of said building.

'The court finds that plaintiff's intestate, Mr. John Beasley and the defendant were at all times alleged in the petition subject to the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Law of Alabama. The court further finds from the evidence after carefully hearing same that, plaintiff's intestate suffered an injury from which he died as a result of an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment for defendant at...