McManus v. Southern United Ice Co., 42259

• Decision Date: 26 March 1962
• Docket Number: No. 42259,42259
• Citation: 243 Miss. 576,138 So.2d 899
• Parties: Ira Lee McMANUS v. SOUTHERN UNITED ICE COMPANY, and The Atlantic Company.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 899

138 So.2d 899

243 Miss. 576

Ira Lee McMANUS v. SOUTHERN UNITED ICE COMPANY, and The Atlantic Company.

No. 42259.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 26, 1962.

Satterfield, Shell, Williams & Buford, Carey Bufkin, Jackson, for appellant.

Henley, Jones & Henley, Jackson, for appellee.

JONES, Justice.

The only question involved in this case is whether lay testimony as opposed to medical evidence where only the question of the degree of disability is concerned is substantial evidence that will support the finding of the Commission.

It is conceded that in the summer of 1957, the appellant, while employed by appellee, received an injury in the course of his employment. The evidence shows that while he was handling a 300 pound block of ice 'something popped' in his left arm, and he was nauseated. He saw a local physician, who sent him to the firm of Dr. T. H. Blake at Jackson, where he was found to have suffered a rupture of the long-head of the biceps in the left arm. The doctors thought an operation might remedy the situation, but after some delay and when the appellant finally seemed to agree to the operation, it was decided that on account of his age and the time elapsed since the accident, an operation would not be warranted. He was allowed and paid for 26 weeks, 4 days temporary total disability, and 40 weeks permanent partial disability for twenty percent loss of the use of the arm.

After these payments had been made and under date of April 7, 1959, appellant filed his petition with the Workmen's Compensation Commission asking that the cause be reopened under all of the application sections of the compensation act to determine the additional benefits, if any, to which the claimant might be entitled because of the injury hereinbefore mentioned. A hearing was thereafter held and the Commission adjudicated that the claimant reached the maximum medical recovery on January 15, 1958, but that he suffered residual permanent disability to the extent of one hundred percent loss of use of his left arm, and directed the payment of compensation accordingly, giving credit for that already paid.

On appeal to the circuit court, the order of the Commission was reversed on the ground that there was no substantial evidence to support same.

At the hearing, the claimant, his wife, his son, and a neighbor all testified for the claimant. The claimant testified, and all the evidence showed, that he had only finished the fourth grade of school and that his work experience had been in farming and the unskilled labor the performed for appellee. He testified that since the accident he had not been able to pick up any thing very heavy; that he could not reach down very quickly; that his arm hurt him all the time and stayed asleep all the time; he could not completely close his fist, and when he tried it hurt him very badly; that he could not hold a grip for any period of time without it turning loose; that he had pains in his shoulder, and there was a depression in his upper arm which had been there ever since the accident; that he could not raise his arm very high and when he tried to raise his arm it felt like something pulling loose; that he had tried to work but the pain would not permit him to work; that the pain started in the upper part of the left arm and went in a semi-circle through his shoulder and into his chest; that he tried to help his brother tie turnips but after a few minutes he could not get his fingers together; that sometimes it felt like somebody was sticking a knife in him; that he had to take aspirin every night and took about 100 aspirin a week seeking to relieve the pain; that sometimes he tried to mow the lawn, but would have to pull or push the mower with one hand; that he had not earned a penny since the injury but was dependent upon his wife; that he was 63 years of age at the time of the first hearing on May 7, 1959; that prior to his injury he had a garden but since he got his arm hurt he had no garden; that he would drive his wife to work in the car; that his arm hurt him just as much as it did when he was first injured; that even when he tried to sweep his arm hurt him so he could not sleep.

His wife testified that her husband was not able to work and her income was all they had; that he had always been a hard working man but had not been able to work since his arm was injured; that when he tried to do anything he got so nauseated he could not sleep or eat; that if he tried to do anything, even pick up a broom and sweep the floor, he would have the pain; that lots of times he would carry his left arm or hand in the other hand; that in driving the car if the brakes were up and he started to reach for them his arm drops back and he just flinches; that he could not grip your hand for but a second, and as he holds it, you could feel it beginning to break loose. She also testified about the aspirin; that the pain runs along in his arm up into his shoulder; that the doctors had put him on a pulley reaching to pull a rope up and down; that he did that for a while but it did not do him any good, in fact, every time he would take the treatment he would be worse from taking it--it would make him nauseated every time; sometimes for two or three days at a time he would not eat one good meal; that he did not sleep any when he tried to use his arm; that he tried to mow the lawn sometime but used only one arm; that he worked a garden until he got his arm hurt...