107 Ga. App. 249 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1963
This is an appeal from a superior court judgment affirming an award of the State Board of Workmen’s Compensation in favor of the claimant. The evidence authorized the director’s finding that the employee “jumped from a ladder while taking down a conveyor in Monroe, Georgia, when sparks from the acetylene torch that he was using set his clothes afire. That when he jumped, he landed flat-footed and injured the bottom of his feet.” The medical evidence would support a finding that the employee ruptured his heel pads on this occasion. The only issue argued by the plaintiff in error, the employer, is that the evidence does not support the director’s finding that “ample notice of the accident was given as required by the Workmen’s Compensation Act.”
Code § 114-303 provides in part: “No compensation will be payable unless such notice, either oral or written, is given within 30 days after the occurrence of an accident . . . unless it can be shown . . . that the employer, his agent, representative, or foreman, or the immediate superior of the injured employee, had knowledge of the accident . . .”
The strongest evidence that the claimant gave the employer “notice of an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment” is the claimant’s testimony that “after Dr.
On the other hand, there was evidence that within 30 days after the accident the claimant made known to the employer that his feet were disabled and that he was receiving medical care. This evidence, coupled with evidence that the employer had knowledge of the accident, would authorize a finding that the employer had knowledge of an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment. See Larson, Workmen’s Compensation Law, Vol. 2, p. 256, § 78.31 (a); accord Booth v. Carl F. McDougald, Inc. (Fla.) 116 S2d 785, 787; Santillo v. Pittsburgh Rys. Co., 181 Pa. Super. 266 (124 A2d 657). From Dr. Jennings’ testimony there could be found the fact, or at least an inference, that on or before June 28, the date of the claimant’s second visit to Dr. Jennings, Mr. Guice (the employer’s representative) told Dr. Jennings about the accident and the employee’s injury on the job. Such a statement would constitute an admission by the employer inconsistent with its contention in the present litigation and would be evidence of the employer’s knowledge. W. T. Harvey Lumber Co. v. J. M. Wells Lumber Co., 104 Ga. App. 498 (122 SE2d 143); Haas & Howell v. Godby, 33 Ga. App. 218, 223 (125 SE 897); Green, The Georgia Law of Evidence, p. 519, § 233;
Judgment reversed with direction.