Valeri v. Village of Hibbing
| Decision Date | 03 December 1926 |
| Docket Number | 25,427 |
| Citation | 211 N.W. 8,169 Minn. 241 |
| Parties | MARY VALERI v. VILLAGE OF HIBBING |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Certiorari to review the order of the Industrial Commission awarding compensation in a proceeding under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Affirmed.
Evidence sustained finding.
1. The finding of the Industrial Commission that a hernia was caused by a workman's attempt to lift a can of garbage is sufficiently supported by competent evidence.
Death resulted from operation for hernia.
2. To relieve the hernia, a surgical operation was performed. It was followed by an attack of delirium tremens and the death of the workman. The commission sustained a finding of the referee that the "operation did set into activity delirium tremens," and that death was the result of the operation and the subsequent complications. Held that the finding is supported by the evidence.
Workmen's Compensation Acts, -- C.J. p. 123 n. 43.
See note in 19 A.L.R. pp. 104, 106; 28 A.L.R. pp. 207, 208.
C G. Anderson, Village Attorney, and Lewis & Hunt, for relator.
Victor H. Johnson, for respondent.
Certiorari to review the decision of the Industrial Commission awarding compensation to the respondent for the death of her husband, Marino Valeri.
On November 22, 1924, Valeri was employed by the relator as a garbage collector. Another man drove the garbage wagon and a third man assisted Valeri, but was absent on the day in question. The driver was the only witness of the accident. He testified that, while lifting a can of garbage from the ground to the wagon, Valeri fell with the can, and exclaimed that he had hurt himself, indicating "his hip or down there somewheres."
Valeri continued to work that day and for two or three days thereafter, with the aid of the third man, doing the same work as before.
Valeri's wife testified that when her husband came home on the day of the accident he complained of pain, but did not consult a physician until 10 or 15 days later although he continued to feel badly; that he did not think he was ruptured; that he did not work much but "would give his time in" and then come home and stay in the house.
Varleri drew his wages for 15 days after November 22nd, and a witness in a position to know the facts testified that he continued to work until the team and wagon were "laid off." On December 10th he consulted a physician, who discovered that he had a right inguinal hernia. An operation to reduce the hernia was performed on January 6, 1925. When Valeri entered the hospital where the operation was performed, he had a marked tremor and was extremely nervous. On the 8th of January he became delirious and on the 10th he died. During the last two days of his life he had delirium tremens. He was an Italian by birth, had once been a saloonkeeper and habitually drank wine which he made and kept at home. There is evidence of a somewhat unsatisfactory character that for at least two weeks before he entered the hospital he had been in a state of mild intoxication. While working in a mine before he was employed by the village, he had broken his leg in two places and the leg never fully regained its strength.
Upon this state of facts counsel for relator contend that there was not enough competent evidence to support the finding that the hernia was caused by Valeri's attempt to lift the can of garbage, or the finding that the hernia was a proximate cause of his death.
There was no external evidence of injury and it is urged that it is more probable that the hernia originated from an unknown cause than that the strain of lifting caused it, that Valeri's exclamation when he fell indicated that his injured leg was hurt, and that it is just as reasonable to infer that the hernia was caused by something which occurred after November 22nd as it is to infer that the strain of lifting the garbage can was the source of the trouble.
The testimony of the driver is not full or explicit but, coupled with the proof that Valeri complained of pain after November 22nd and was seemingly unable to go on with his work after a few days had elapsed, it furnished a sufficient basis for the finding in question.
The finding that "the operation did set into activity delirium tremens" and that death was the result of...
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