Voris v. Eikel

• Decision Date: 09 November 1953
• Docket Number: No. 20,20
• Citation: 98 L.Ed. 5,74 S.Ct. 88,346 U.S. 328
• Parties: VORIS v. EIKEL et al
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

346 U.S. 328

74 S.Ct. 88

98 L.Ed. 5

VORIS

v EIKEL et al.

No. 20.

Argued Oct. 14, 1953.

Decided Nov. 9, 1953.

Mr. Murray L. Schwartz, Washington, D.C., for petitioner.

Mr. John R. Brown, Houston, Tex., for respondents.

Mr. Chief Justice WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case involves the proper application of the notice provisions of the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 44 Stat. 1424, as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., 33 U.S.C.A. § 901 et seq. by a Deputy Commissioner to the claim of an employee admittedly subject to the provisions of the Act. Section 12 of the Act provides:

'(a) Notice of an injury or death in respect of which compensation is payable under this chapter shall be given within thirty days after the date of such injury or death (1) to the deputy commissioner in the compensation district in which such injury occurred and (2) to the employer.

'(b) Such notice shall be in writing, shall contain the name and address of the employee and a statement of the time, place, nature, and cause of the injury or death, and shall be signed by the employee or by some person on his behalf, or in case of death, by any person claiming to be entitled to compensation for such death or by a person on his behalf.

'(d) Failure to give such notice shall not bar any claim under this chapter (1) if the employer (or his agent in charge of the business in the place where the injury occurred) or the carrier had knowledge of the injury or death and the deputy commissioner determines that the employer or carrier has not been prej- udiced by failure to give such notice, or (2) if the deputy commissioner excuses such failure on the ground that for some satisfactory reason such notice could not be given * * *.' 44 Stat. 1431, 33 U.S.C. § 912, 33 U.S.C.A. § 912.

The Deputy Commissioner found in favor of the claimant, and awarded compensation. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas reversed his decision and enjoined further payments, 101 F.Supp. 963. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed by a divided court, 200 F.2d 724. This Court granted certiorari to review the interpretation of the statute. 345 U.S. 955, 73 S.Ct. 937.

The facts as disclosed by the record and found by the Deputy Commissioner are as follows:

The claimant, Earl Porter, was a stevedore employed by the Southern Stevedoring and Contracting Company. On December 19, 1949, while he was working in the hold of the S.S. Southern States, the loading equipment struck an electric fixture which, in breaking, ignited some sulphur and created a flash fire. The men fled in terror from the hold, and, while claimant was on the ladder, he was struck by a beam and knocked to the floor, with resulting injuries to his back and shoulder. The Deputy Commissioner found that the injuries were permanent. No written notice was given to the employer until six months after the accident.

Several workmen on the stevedoring gang saw the claimant injured. Others, including Leslie Lovely, foreman of the gang on which claimant worked, saw him on the deck immediately after the injury, unable to walk. Some of claimant's fellow workers carried him to a nearby automobile. The walking foreman, Ernest Wisby, who supervised the work of both stevedoring gangs on the vessel, was immediately notified by the claimant of his injury, and it was Wisby who drove the claimant to his home.

The claimant testified that he asked Wisby to take him to a doctor, but that the latter told him he could not reach one until 7:00 a.m. This was at 4:15 a.m. Claimant testified that he crawled into the house instead of walking because of the pain he was suffering. Wisby did not return to take him to the doctor. Claimant further testified that later on the morning of the accident he sent his wife to the home of Wisby in order to have the latter arrange for a doctor but was told he was asleep, and that two or three days later he went to Wisby's house and demanded that he be taken to a doctor. Wisby admitted this, but denied that he ever agreed to take the claimant to a doctor. He testified that he told claimant that the timekeeper was the only one who had authority to send him to a doctor. Wisby testified that he reported the injury to the timekeeper on the day of the accident.

The record establishes that the usual method of reporting accidents on this job and similar jobs is for the injured employee to report to his immediate supervisor. The immediate supervisors of the stevedores are the gang and walking foremen. When there is a timekeeper on the job, the supervisor sends or takes the employee to the timekeeper who sends the employee to a doctor. Both the supervisor and the timekeeper are instructed to report the injury to the employer or the agent in charge.

Wisby was the man who hired the claimant, directed his work, and paid him his wages for the respondent. The only other person claimed by respondent to be in authority for it on the ship at the time of the accident was A. P. David, whose regular status was that of gearman. He testified that he was left in charge of the job when B. D. Harris, a partner in the stevedoring firm, left the ship that day to make a trip to Houston. There is nothing in the record to indicate, and there is evidence to the contrary, that the authority claimed for David as representative of the company was known to the foremen or workmen. David had no headquarters on the job; there was no notice given of his change in status from 'gearman' to agent in charge; and, during the loading operation at the time of the accident, he was in the galley talking and having coffee with the timekeeper.

It is under these circumstances that the respondent contends, and the courts below held, that the Deputy Commissioner could not find...