86 Pa. Super. 77 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1925
Argued April 27, 1925.
This is a claim under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Plaintiff's husband, George Heck, was employed by the United Presbyterian Church at Bellevue as janitor. On November 29, 1922, about 10:30 a.m. he was struck by an automobile in the Borough of Bellevue and died a few days after that. The deceased was living in the basement of the church. As janitor of the church he opened it about 8 o'clock and closed it about 5 o'clock. He attended the furnace and did all the necessary cleaning about the building. He prepared his own meals in a small room in the church. There was some evidence that he was accustomed to buy supplies for the church and for his own personal use at a store in the direction of which he was going at the time he was struck. It was not usual for the deceased to leave the church without some specific notification to the pastor, but this was not a hard and fast rule but merely a custom *79
of the deceased. In order to entitle the claimant to a finding in her favor the injury not being sustained while on the premises of the employer, it was her duty to show that the decedent "was actually engaged in the furtherance of the business or affairs of the employer" at the time of his injury: Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, section 301. We have carefuly read the testimony and we are all of the opinion that it would be a mere matter of conjecture to come to the conclusion that such fact appears. There is some testimony as to assertions that the injured man made that he was on an errand for the church but they were mere hearsay. That the decedent may have been on a mission of his own is quite as reasonable as the inference that he was on his master's business: Poffinberger v. Martin Co.,
The order of the lower court is affirmed except as to *80 that portion which directs the record to be remitted to the compensation authorities. Judgment is here entered for the defendant, appellant for costs.
