Hardwood Sales Co. v. Meeks

• Decision Date: 13 May 1941
• Citation: Hardwood Sales Co. v. Meeks, 286 Ky. 500, 151 S.W.2d 406 (Ky. Ct. App. 1941)
• Parties: HARDWOOD SALES CO. v. MEEKS et al.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

151 S.W.2d 406

286 Ky. 500

HARDWOOD SALES CO. v. MEEKS et al.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky

May 13, 1941

Appeal from Circuit Court, Pike County; R. Monroe Fields, Judge.

Proceeding under the Workmen's Compensation Act by Lonnie Meeks employee, opposed by the Hardwood Sales Company, employer. From a judgment upholding award of the Compensation Board in favor of the employee, the employer appeals.

Affirmed.

A. F Childers, of Pikeville, for appellant.

Sidney Trivette and W. W. Barrett, both of Pikeville, for appellee.

VAN SANT, Commissioner.

The appellee claims to have been injured on November 19, 1936 while in the employ of appellant. He averred in the petition that while he was helping his woods foreman turn a log with a cantook the foreman suddenly released his hold on the log and allowed it to roll over him, in consequence of which he sustained injuries to his back.

The case was heard by the Compensation Board and award was made to appellee on the basis of 15 percent partial permanent disability. From this award appellant appealed to the circuit court which upheld the award, from which judgment this appeal has been prosecuted.

Appellant contends that the judgment should be reversed because (1) There is not sufficient evidence to sustain the finding that the injuries occurred to appellee while in the employ of appellant; (2) there is not sufficient evidence to support the finding of the board and the circuit court that the injuries sustained are permanent.

Appellee testified that the accident occurred in the manner averred in the petition and that continuously since the time of the injury he has been required to use medicants and liniments to ease the pain in his back, and that continuously throughout that time he has been unable to work although before the accident he was a strong, able-bodied young man, capable of performing more work than the average person in his line of endeavor. He was corroborated as to the occurrence of the accident by the witness, Frank Gibson, who was "working above" the appellee when the accident occurred. Several witnesses testified that they were well acquainted with Meeks and that commencing immediately after the accident and continuously since that time, they had an opportunity to observe him; that he was confined to his bed a great deal of the time; that he constantly applied liniments and medicants to his back and appeared to be in great pain. Three doctors testified that they had examined him at various times since the accident and before the trial and while they found no objective symptoms of injury there was apparent tenderness in the region of the back. One of the doctors testified that it was extremely difficult to diagnose an injury to the back without taking subjective symptoms into consideration. Dr. W. C. Gose testified that taking the history of the case, as related by appellee, to be true, and, taking into consideration his own examination of the patient, he was of the opinion that the percentage of disability to the body as a whole was 15 percent.

The evidence for appellant was to the effect that the accident did not occur and it introduced its woods foreman who testified to that effect. In addition to that evidence it introduced many witnesses who testified that they had, at various times from the date of the alleged injury, observed appellee coon and squirrel hunting. The evidence further shows that appellee continued to work for appellant at intermittent times for approximately 7 weeks after the accident. In that period of time he worked 12...