141 A. 635 | Pa. | 1928
Argued March 12, 1928. On the morning of the 27th of November, 1923, the dead bodies of Hunter and Boyd, employees of defendant, were found at Donora in the Monongahela River close to the shore of defendant's property. Both had been drowned. Appellee filed a petition as claimant for compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act of June 2, 1915, P. L. 736, alleging Hunter's death was the result of an accident occurring in the course of his employment on the premises of defendant. The claim was disallowed by the referee. The compensation board, after a hearing de novo, reversed the finding of the referee and awarded compensation. This conclusion was affirmed by the court below. On appeal to this court, the sole question before us is whether there is competent evidence to support the finding of the compensation board that Hunter met death by accident while in the course of his employment and on the premises of defendant.
As has frequently been stated by this court, the findings of the Workmen's Compensation Board, supported by evidence, have the weight of the verdict of a jury (Sgattone v. Mulholland
Gotwals, Inc.,
The undisputed facts show that Hunter had been for some time in the continuous employ of defendant, and, at the time of his death, his employment was that of stationary engineer; that on the night of November 23, 1923, he and Boyd and two other employees were in the engine room at work; at 9:15 in the evening, both men, clad in their working garments, left the engine room, apparently for the purpose of attending to some of nature's necessities. Hunter was not afterwards seen alive. Boyd was last seen some minutes after 9:15, about 9:30, when he entered a paint shop alone, greeted a workman, took a drink of water and immediately departed. Nothing more was heard or seen of either men until four days later, when Hunter's body was discovered in the river lying partially under the lower end of a barge that was moored to pilings supporting a long boardwalk or deck, both owned and utilized for unloading material required by defendant. The body of Boyd was found in the same vicinity a few hours later.
We recently stated in Shoffler v. Lehigh Valley Coal Company,
The immediate question in this case is whether there is sufficient competent evidence to support the finding of the court below that the injury occurred on the premises in the course of employment. The hours of employment include those set apart for leisure, rest, recreation or refreshment, or attending calls of nature. Hunter went to work at the usual hour, 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon. His quitting time was 11:00 o'clock that night. He changed his street clothes, placing them in the locker, where they were found after his death. The regular foreman was not present and Boyd was made temporary foreman. Without offering any explanation, he left the room at 9:15 o'clock. The distance between the engine room where Hunter and Boyd were working and the river's edge is approximately 350 feet. To reach it, they pass over two railroad tracks, around the power house and over two more railroad tracks. From the pipe house where Boyd was last seen, they must travel 125 feet or more to the river. What happened to Hunter after leaving the engine room and to Boyd after leaving the pipe house are mere matters of conjecture.
The board was of the belief that Boyd and Hunter walked to the river and fell from the foot-walk or dock, erected along the river side, into the water. There is some evidence that there was a small fire on the other side of the river and a boat was later discovered upside *108
down; on this the theory might be built that the men were attempting to cross the river when the boat upset, causing them to drown. Whatever may be our surmise as to how the men came to be in the water, there is not a scintilla of evidence that their duties in any aspect required them to be near the river. It is equally certain, from the evidence of record, the place to which they strolled on that fatal evening was not on the premises of defendant as it related to their normal employment, even taking into account such immediate adjoining territory which might be reasonably considered a recreation area. While the mere fact that they attended to a personal demand would not break the continuity of employment (Ferri v. Lenni Quarry Co.,
In principle, this case is ruled by clause "A" quoted from Shoffler v. Lehigh Valley Coal Co., supra, and Kuca v. Lehigh Valley Coal Co., supra. In the latter case, the employee went about 500 feet from where his duty called him, and we held his death did not occur in the course of employment, or on the premises as it related to his work. In line with this case, see also Wilson v. H. C. Frick Coke Co.,
Claimant refers to Flucker v. Carnegie Steel Company,
The judgment is reversed.