Vest v. Phoenix Motor Co., Civil 3846

• Decision Date: 06 July 1937
• Docket Number: Civil 3846
• Parties: ALTA MAE VEST, Petitioner, v. PHOENIX MOTOR COMPANY, Defendant Employer, THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF ARIZONA, Defendant Insurance Carrier
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

69 P.2d 795

50 Ariz. 137

ALTA MAE VEST, Petitioner, v. PHOENIX MOTOR COMPANY, Defendant Employer, THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF ARIZONA, Defendant Insurance Carrier

Civil No. 3846

Supreme Court of Arizona

July 6, 1937

APPEAL by Certiorari from an award of The Industrial Commission of Arizona. Award affirmed.

Mr. E O. Phlegar, for Petitioner.

Mr. Don C. Babbitt and Mr. Howard A. Twitty, for Respondent Industrial Commission.

OPINION

LOCKWOOD, J.

Alta Mae Vest, hereinafter called petitioner, filed a claim before the Industrial Commission of Arizona, hereinafter called the commission, for benefits under the Workmen's Compensation Law (Rev. Code 1928, § 1391 et seq., as amended), on account of the death of her husband, Clovis W. Vest hereinafter called deceased.

There is but one substantial question for our consideration, and that is whether the record sustains the finding of the commission that the accident, as a result of which the death occurred, did not arise out of and in the course of the employment of deceased by the Phoenix Motor Company hereinafter called the employer. It is, of course, incumbent upon the claimant to show affirmatively that she was entitled to compensation. Davis v. Industrial Com., 46 Ariz. 169, 49 P.2d 394; Ocean Acc. & Guar. Corp v. Industrial Com., 32 Ariz. 265, 257 P. 641. And if the evidence is such that a reasonable inference may be drawn therefrom either way, we must sustain the award of the commission. Maryland Cas. Co. v. Industrial Com., 33 Ariz. 490, 266 P. 11.

There is very little conflict in the evidence bearing upon the question of whether or not deceased, at the time of the fatal accident, was engaged in his employment, and we state the facts as follows. Deceased had been employed by the company as an auto salesman the day before the accident, and on the morning of the accident had purchased from the company a car to be used as a demonstrator. About 8 o'clock that evening Frank R. Hazeltine, who was standing on First Street near Jefferson, noticed the deceased having trouble in starting his car, and went over and offered to help him. They then began talking about the car, and deceased told Hazeltine he was a car salesman, to which the latter replied that if the next election went his way and he got the job he was looking for, he would buy a car. The two continued in general conversation and then got in the car and rode around for a little while. They then stopped and deceased telephoned to his wife. During the course of his conversation he made the remark to her, "Well, I have sold a car today," or "just...