90 A.D.2d 608 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1982
Appeal from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board, filed September 17, 1981, which ruled that claimant sustained an accidental injury in the course of his employment and awarded benefits. On August 23,1978, claimant, an 18-year-old stock clerk at a supermarket, finished work at 11:00 p.m. Just after he punched out on the time clock, his supervisor called him over to talk briefly. Claimant then started to walk away, but staggered and fell, striking his head on the floor. He suffered a concussion, a cut on his chin, and two broken teeth. Claimant testified that he didn’t remember anything about the fall itself and almost nothing until he woke up in the hospital the next day. His. supervisor, who saw the fall, could offer no explanation for it. The physician who attended him in the hospital described the fall as a “syncope
“Syncope” means “a fainting, swooning, or loss of consciousness, caused by a temporary deficiency of blood supply to the brain” (Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary [2d ed], p 1850).