Hartman v. Cold Spring Granite Co., 36301

• Decision Date: 10 December 1954
• Docket Number: No. 36301,36301
• Citation: 67 N.W.2d 656,243 Minn. 264
• Parties: Edmund C. HARTMAN, Respondent, v. COLD SPRING GRANITE COMPANY, Relator.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 656

67 N.W.2d 656

243 Minn. 264

Edmund C. HARTMAN, Respondent, v. COLD SPRING GRANITE COMPANY, Relator.

No. 36301.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Dec. 10, 1954.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Traumatic neurosis is compensable under our workmen's compensation act if it is the proximate result of an employee's injuries and results in disability.

2. When a claim petition is referred by the industrial commission to a referee for hearing and determination, the commission, on appeal to it, is not bound by the findings of fact of the referee even though the review is based solely upon the evidence presented to the referee and involves principally a question of credibility of witnesses.

Francis W. Russell, Cold Spring, Henry Halladay, Curtis L. Roy, and Dorsey, Colman, Barker, Scott & Barber, Minneapolis, for relator.

Hyman H. Cohen, Willard L. Converse, Robins, Davis & Lyons, St. Paul, for respondent.

KNUTSON, Justice.

Certiorari upon relation of the employer to review a decision of the industrial commission awarding compensation to an employee. The award is based upon an alleged traumatic neurosis arising from the cumulative effect of several injuries alleged to have been sustained by the employee, Edmund C. Hartman, while working for the employer, Cold Spring Granite Company.

Prior to his employment by the granite company Hartman had enjoyed good health. He had had the usual childhood diseases from which he had recovered without any difficulty. He had also had an appendectomy which had been successfully performed about in 1943. No inherent tendency toward mental or physical weaknesses was elicited from his family history. From 1930 to 1946 Hartman had worked on his father's farm doing a major portion of the farm work. Occasionally he worked on neighbors' farms and drove a truck for a dray line. In 1944, while employed driving a truck, Hartman was hospitalized for ten days and was treated for a sprained back. Workmen's compensation benefits and medical expenses were paid. Hartman testified that he did not recall the sprained back but attributed the hospitalization to 'the flu' which affected his kidneys causing back pain. However, the record shows that he was paid compensation and medical benefits for this injury.

On August 18, 1947, when about 30 years of age, Hartman began to work for defendant granite company as a granite polisher, operating by hand an electric polishing machine. His first injury while working for that employer occurred on November 18, 1947, when a bar with which he was lifting a large stone slipped, causing him to lose his footing. Hartman fell on the bar, and his right side was ruptured. A successful operation to correct the hernia was performed by Dr. John F. Kelly of Cold Spring. Hartman returned to work on January 12, 1948, but continued to experience pain. Compensation benefits and medical expenses were paid.

On May 26, 1948, Hartman sustained a second injury for which no compensation was sought. ¹ On this occasion a metal bucket and its contents weighing about ten pounds fell from a height of from 10 to 20 feet from an overhead crane, apparently striking Hartman on the head. While there is some conflict in the testimony as to whether it struck Hartman or merely startled him, the evidence would sustain a finding that the bucket actually struck Hartman on the head. In any event, the fall of the bucket did cause him to fall backward and to bruise his back on some grinding wheel dressers. First aid was given to the bruises on his back, but Hartman claimed that after the bruises healed his back still pained him. Heat treatments were given to alleviate the pain in Hartman's back, but full relief was not obtained. The treatments were discontinued on the attending nurse's theory that the summer heat would improve the condition of Hartman's back.

On August 16, 1949, Hartman sustained a third injury. On that occasion, a swinging crane operated by Hartman failed to function properly, causing a 500-pound stone which Hartman was attempting to place on a rack or 'horse' to tip the 'horse.' As the 'horse' tipped, one end of the stone remained on it. The other end struck Hartman midsection and pinned him against another stone momentarily. Hartman shoved the stone away from his stomach and back onto the 'horse.' This accident caused a second rupture of his right side. The night of the accident Hartman was examined, and arrangements for another herniotomy were made. Hartman attempted to return to work the following day but became ill on account of this hernia and went home to bed until the operation was performed a few days later, again by Dr. Kelly. Two and one-half weeks after the operation Hartman was discharged from the hospital. He continued to experience pain in his right groin during a three-month recuperative period. During this period, Hartman consulted Dr. Kelly at least twice complaining of this pain. With a warning that he should be careful not to incur another rupture, Dr. Kelly permitted Hartman to return to his work in November. Hartman attempted to obtain lighter work with the granite company, but none was available at the time. Within a day or two of this attempt, Hartman secured permission from the industrial commission to change doctors. On November 12, 1949, he consulted Dr. Herman E. Koop of Cold Spring, who advised him to consult Doctors Hultkrans and Nelson of Minneapolis, specialists in industrial accident cases. On November 14, 1949, Hartman was also examined by Dr. Phil Stangl of St. Cloud upon the recommendation of Dr. Kelly. Consultation by Hartman with Dr. Whitrock of Watkins confirmed Dr. Koop's advice.

In the latter part of November, Hartman was examined by Dr. Harvey Nelson. A month's rest was prescribed and an exploratory operation on the right groin recommended if the pain and swelling in the groin and back had not subsided by the end of that rest period. This recommendation was reported to the granite company. The exploratory operation was performed on January 20, 1950, by Dr. Nelson, but he found no organic malfunction. After his release on January 27, Hartman continued to experience pain, and he consulted with Doctors Hultkrans and Nelson again in April 1950. After March 28, 1950, the granite company ceased to pay further medical expenses and compensation.

During the period from July 24, 1950, to September 1950, Hartman was an outpatient of the University of Minnesota Hospitals. He complained of pain in the left groin and testicle and that he was importent. A thorough examination failed to reveal any organic cause of the pain. An interne in the hospital made a notation on a medical report indicating that it was his belief that Hartman was suffering from a 'compensation neurosis.'

In September 1950 Hartman obtained employment as a truck driver. After a day and a half he quit work because of pain and the swelling of his right leg and testicle. He immediately consulted Dr. Koop, who advised him that trucking was too strenuous a job, and he again referred him to Doctors Hultkrans and Nelson. After examination by Dr. Hultkrans, who advised Hartman that 'whatever is wrong either it has to disappear or bust,' Hartman was examined by Dr. H. B. Hannah, specializing in neurology, upon the recommendation of Dr. Hultkrans. Dr. Hannah was unable to discover any organic cause for the pain.

On September 14, 1950, a petition for additional compensation was filed, but, after an examination by the doctor to whom Hartman was referred by his attorney which failed to reveal any organic cause of the disability, the petition was dismissed by Hartman's attorney.

On October 11, 1950, Hartman secured employment with Franklin Transformer Company. In his application for employment, he failed to reveal his prior hernial surgery but explained this by the fact that he was afraid that if he revealed such operations he would not be given employment. In his new position he often engaged in strenuous work. He continued to experience pain and had developed a peculiar gate or limp. Hartman was given lighter work temporarily, a fact which he attributed to the discovery of his limp by the foreman and the disclosure to the foreman of his prior herniotomies. Hartman was laid off on November 19, 1950, when the Franklin Transformer Company closed down.

On December 11, 1950, Hartman obtained employment with Lantz Lens Craft Company as a lens grinder. He had filed his application for such employment prior to his employment with Franklin Transformer Company. As part of his duties at the Lantz company Hartman was required to periodically empty a tub of emery dust and water used in the grinding operation. When the tub was full it weighed about 50 pounds. When he was first employed he was able to empty this tub, but later he had to call upon a fellow employee to do so. During the time he was employed at the Lantz company he continued to complain of pain in his legs and groin. The limp which Hartman had when he began to work for the Lantz company grew more pronounced, and he began to sense a twitching in his right arm and leg. He also experienced chills. Between July 26, 1951, and October 21, 1951, he had consulted Dr. Koop of Cold Spring and had received some 24 'shots' for the relief of pain. Hartman terminated his employment with the Lantz company on October 26, 1951, on account of the increase of the pain and stiffness in his back and legs, which he attributed to the 'shots' which he had been taking.

Upon the advice of Dr. Koop, Hartman entered St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul on October 30, 1951. The trip to the hospital was made in an ambulance because of Hartman's inability to walk. During this hospitalization, which lasted until November 16, 1951, Dr. C. C. Chatterton, who was then in charge of Hartman, called Dr. John Culligan to examine Hartman. Hartman's complaint of back, groin, and scrotum pain decreased, and he was able to walk by the time he was discharged. He still...