207 Pa. Super. 329 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1966
Opinion by
This is a workmen’s compensation case. The Referee made an award for five months total disability and for partial disability thereafter. The Board sustained the
John McGowan was employed by Upper Darby Tet Supply as a meat cutter, truck driver, and general handyman. His claim petition alleged that he suffered a heart attack on April 7, 1964, while in the course of his employment. An answer was filed denying that an accidental injury had occurred. The Referee found that claimant had sustained an accident “in that he had unusual and heavy exertion when he had to lift a heavy weight of 100 to 125 pounds off the floor by himself”. The Board held that claimant had failed to prove the happening of an accident. Although the lower court conceded that it did not have authority to adopt the Referee’s findings, the effect of its order was to direct the Board to do so. This order was not interlocutory: Messikomer v. Baldwin Locomotive Works, 178 Pa. Superior Ct. 537, 115 A. 2d 853.
Claimant’s version of the incident in his claim petition
It was claimant’s burden to prove.all of the elements, necessary to support an award: Chernetsky v. William Penn Stripping Co., 200 Pa. Superior Ct. 277, 188 A. 2d 770. The- Board is the final arbiter of the facts: Ferlazzo v. Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., 200 Pa. Superior Ct. 390, 189 A. 2d 189. Since the Board found against the claimant, the evidence on appeal must be viewed in the light most favorable to the employer: Lind w. Argo Lamp Co., 198 Pa. Superior Ct. 247, 181 A. 2d 726. The- question before us is not whether the evidence- >vould support a finding in favor of the claimant, but whether there has been a capricious disregard of competent evidence in the failure to so find: McFarlane v. Mellon-Stuart Co., 205 Pa. Superior Ct. 66, 208 A. 2d 40.
The doing of an occasional act involving sustained muscular effort may be part of the usual duties of a workman and, though the work is hard, if it is of the same kiud and quantity and done in the same manner as it has been performed in the past, disability resultr
. In brief, not only do we fail to perceive any capricious disregard of competent evidence, but also it is our view that the Board arrived at the only conclusion which it could properly have reached on this record. The decision of the Board should not have been disturbed. Cf. Krasznay v. Milton Ross Metals Co., 204 Pa. Superior Ct. 94, 203 A. 2d 393.
Order reversed, and record remitted to the court below for entry of judgment in favor of appellants.
“I was cutting horse meat, at the pet supply at 9:15 A.M., when I first started with pains in my left arm. I start my usual deliveries at 10:00 A.M. and as the morning progressed the pains became worse. While serving a customer at 134 Lansdowne Court, the pains (h)it my chest. The customer in turn contacted a doctor who sent me to the Delaware County Hospital. My family doctor transferred me to the Hahnemann Hospital. The nature of the injury was a heart attack”.