Whitehead v. Keene Roofing Co.
| Decision Date | 20 December 1949 |
| Parties | WHITEHEAD v. KEENE ROOFING CO. et al. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Allen Clements, Miami, for appellant.
No appearance, for appellees.
In the course of his employment, Walter Pate Whitehead fell from a roof on which he was working and sustained serious bodily injuries. He did not improve; and, a little more than three months after the accident, he swallowed a mixture of potash and lye from which he died four days later. His widow, the appellant, filed claim for benefits under the Workmen's Compensation Act. The Deputy Commissioner found that the deceased took his life by wilful intent and dismissed the claim. The full Commission reversed the order of the Deputy Commissioner and awarded appellant workmen's compensation, burial expenses and attorney's fees. On appeal to the Circuit Court, the order of the full Commission was reversed. This appeal is from the decree of the Circuit Court.
The point for determination is whether or not the claimant is entitled to workmen's compensation on account of the death of her husband, who is shown to have committed suicide.
The evidence showed that the deceased sustained injuries to his foot and his shoulder, involving the peripheral nervous system; that he suffered excruciating pain in his leg, back, and head, thereafter; that he also developed a paralysis of the arm, which he was advised would take some time to clear up; that, prior to the accident he had been a good-natured man with a phlegmatic disposition, but became morose and ill-humored subsequent to his injury. He stated at the hospital, when asked why he had taken the poison, that he had simply 'gone nuts.'
From the evidence, there can be no doubt that the death of the deceased was directly attributable to the injuries he sustained in the fall from the roof. The lower court held, however, that the deceased was aware of what he was doing at the time he took the poison and of the consequences of his act, and that 'at the time his mental condition was such that his intention primarily to take his life was wilful,' so that no compensation could be allowed under the provisions of Section 440.09(3), Florida Statutes, 1941, F.S.A., that 'No compensation shall be payable if the injury was occasioned primarily * * * by the willful intention of the employee to injure or kill himself * * *.'
We do not think that this ruling is in accordance with the intent and purpose of the Workmen's Compensation Act which, as frequently stated by this court, is to provide for injured workmen and, in the event of their death from injuries received in their employment, their dependents, so that the burden might not fall on society but on the industry served. See C. F. Wheeler Co. v. Pullins, 152 Fla. 96, 11 So.2d 303; Protectu Awning Shutter Co. v. Cline, 154 Fla. 30, 16 So.2d 342; General...
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In re Pelmac Indus., Inc.
...188 P.3d at 1088-90 ; see also RSA 281-A:2, XI.The leading case espousing the chain-of-causation test is Whitehead v. Keene Roofing Co., 43 So.2d 464 (Fla. 1949) (en banc). Kahle, 428 A.2d at 916 ; see Graver Tank & Mfg. Co., 399 P.2d at 668. In Whitehead, the Supreme Court of Florida revie......
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Byrd v. Richardson-Greenshields Securities, Inc.
...manner, the Court has accepted that even a suicide precipitated by serious workplace injuries can be compensable. Whitehead v. Keene Roofing Co., 43 So.2d 464 (Fla.1949). We have qualified this statement only by requiring that the suicide must arise from a mental disturbance directly attrib......
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State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div. v. Ramsey
...act but not an intervening cause. Harper v. Industrial Commission, 24 Ill.2d 103, 180 N.E.2d 480 (1962) (citing Whitehead v. Keene Roofing Co., 43 So.2d 464 (Fla.1949) and Burnight v. Industrial Acc. Commission, 181 Cal.App.2d 816, 5 Cal.Rptr. 786 (1960)). See Sheldon, supra, 31 U.Cin.L.Rev......
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Trombley v. State
...his act of suicide was not voluntary in the sense that term is used to describe rational choice of alternatives. Whitehead v. Keene Roofing Co. (Fla., 1949), 43 So.2d 464; Burnight v. Industrial Accident Commission (1960), 181 Cal.App.2d 816, 5 Cal.Rptr. 786; Delinousha v. National Biscuit ......