Wolf v. Nat'l Grocery Co.

• Decision Date: 21 January 1936
• Parties: WOLF v. NATIONAL GROCERY CO.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

182 A. 625

WOLF

v. NATIONAL GROCERY CO.

Court of Common Pleas, Bergen County, of New Jersey.

Jan. 21, 1936.

Appeal from Workmen's Compensation Bureau.

Proceeding under the Workmen's Compensation Act by Rudolph Wolf, Jr., claimant, opposed by the National Grocery Company, employer. From an order of the Workmen's Compensation Bureau (180 A. 625, 13 N.J.Misc. 650) awarding compensation, the employer appeals.

Reversed and rendered.

Breslin & Breslin, of Lyndhurst, for appellee.

Edward O. West, of Hackensack, for appellant.

LEYDEN, Judge.

This is an appeal from the finding of facts, determination, and rule for judgment of the deputy commissioner made on September 3, 1935 (Wolf v. National Grocery Company, 180 A. 625, 13 N.J.Misc. 650), wherein petitioner was awarded temporary disability from June 3, 1933, to December 3, 1933, at the rate of $6 per week, counsel and stenographic fees.

After reading the entire record, I am unable to agree with the conclusion reached by the deputy commissioner.

In the morning of Saturday, June 3, 1933, a load of packaged groceries consisting of thirty or forty pieces was delivered by one of the respondent's trucks and placed on the sidewalk in front of the store premises at No. 607 Main street, Hackensack, N. J. The petitioner, then seventeen years of age, was employed by the respondent as a clerk at a weekly wage of $6. His duties were to wait on customers and to carry the merchandise from the sidewalk into the store, unpack it, and place it on the shelves.

About 11 o'clock a. m. he commenced the task of carrying in the packages, his second selection being a cardboard carton of Del Monte canned goods weighing about fifty pounds. He lifted this package from the sidewalk to an easy carrying position in both hands and proceeded four or five feet to a flight of three stairs leading into the store. As he stepped on the second stair, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen on the right side. He placed the carton on the floor, sat upon it, rested a while, and in five or ten minutes resumed the work and carried in the remainder of the load. He complained to the manager of not feeling well, but no great significance was attached to his statement for he had in the past complained of not being in the best of health. He went home for lunch between 1 and 2 p. m., told his mother of the pain in his abdomen, ate, and returned to work. He continued to perform his duties until closing time at 10:30 or 11 o'clock that night. The pain in his abdomen continued throughout the next day, Sunday. In addition he suffered from a headache. He took a dose of Epsom salts at 11:30 p. m. but obtained no relief. His condition became progressively worse until at 3 a. m. on Monday morning he vomited and requested the services of a physician. His mother then gave him an enema. At 6 o'clock a physician, upon examination, gave him a prescription and suggested immediate hospitalizaton. He entered the hospital at 7 a. m. where his condition was diagnosed as acute appendicitis. He was operated upon at 12 noon, the surgeon finding acute suppurative appendicitis, or, in other words, a true appendicitis. The appendix was not ruptured and there were no adhesions. He remained in the hospital for...