17 N.E.2d 777 | NY | 1938
Claimant appeals from an order of the Appellate Division which reversed an order of the State Industrial Board whereby the latter made an award to the claimant for partial loss of hearing and directed the proportionate payment of fifteen weeks' compensation.
The claimant sustained accidental injuries while in the course of his employment, consisting of a rupture of the left eardrum, through the bursting of a compressed air hose. The Industrial Board found that the accident had impaired the hearing of claimant to the extent of twenty-five per cent in the left ear. The employer took an appeal from the award to the Appellate Division, where the order and award were reversed upon the authority of Matter of Rowe v. McGovern, Inc. (
The only question here involved is whether the Industrial Board may make an award for partial loss of hearing under the Workmen's Compensation Law (Cons. *82 Laws, ch. 67), where there is no loss of earning capacity in the claimant.
The employer maintains that the Workmen's Compensation Law under such circumstances allows no redress, unless there is established a loss or diminution in earning capacity. Subdivision 3 of section 15, in paragraphs A-L, provides certain scheduled awards for permanent partial disability of certain members of the body, but does not mention an ear. Then in paragraph V of subdivision 3 of section
We come then to an analysis of the statute (Workmen's Compensation Law, §
The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and the award of the State Industrial Board reinstated, with costs in this court and in the Appellate Division.
CRANE, Ch. J., LEHMAN, O'BRIEN, HUBBS, LOUGHRAN and RIPPEY, JJ., concur.
Ordered accordingly.