137 A. 662 | Pa. | 1927
Argued April 14, 1927. Plaintiff's husband was a truck driver for the defendants, E. H. B. Claar. While at his home, and not in the course of his employment, he ran a splinter into the ball of his left foot. The wound festered and he was unable to work for about a week. At the end of that time, he returned to work and drove the truck a distance of some sixteen miles, using the left foot to depress the pedal which releases the clutch, just as he had always done and was compelled to do by the construction of the machine. The next day the wounded foot was much worse, he was taken to a hospital, and died of tetanus within twenty-four hours.
Claiming that his employers were liable under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, plaintiff initiated these proceedings. The referee made an award in her favor, the workmen's compensation board approved the finding, but the court of common pleas reversed and entered judgment for defendants. Plaintiff thereupon took the present appeal.
It is not claimed that there was an accident, or any unusual happening, in the course of the work decedent did after the splinter ran into his foot; but it is alleged by plaintiff, and denied by defendants, that the pressure on the ball of the foot, in the way he was required to use it, made the wound worse, and hastened his death. It is not necessary for us to consider the evidence bearing on *421 that point, for we are of one mind that defendants are not liable in any event.
Section 301 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of June 2, 1915, P. L. 736, 738, says that the parties entitled under the statute shall receive "compensation for personal injury to, or for the death of, such employee, by an accident, in the course of his employment. . . . . . The terms 'injury' and 'personal injury' as used in this act shall be construed to mean only violence to the physical structure of the body, and such disease or infection as naturally results therefrom." It is clear that, if the language quoted is to be given its normal meaning, plaintiff cannot recover, for there was no violence to the physical structure of the body, in the course of the employment, nor any disease or infection arising from an accident occurring during that time. Plaintiff alleges, however, that, in furtherance of the beneficial purposes of the statute, we have construed those words liberally, and that such interpretation makes the defendants liable. But this is an error.
In McCauley v. Imperial Woolen Co.,
In Lane v. Horn Hardart Baking Co.,
In Clark v. Lehigh Valley Coal Co.,
In Mauchline v. State Insurance Fund,
In Gausman v. Pearson,
From this review of the relevant authorities, it is clear that plaintiff is not helped by them. She could not recover unless there was "an accident in the course of the employment." Here there was none. The finding by the referee that there was such an accident, is reviewable by us since there was no evidence to support it (Stahl v. Watson Coal Co.,
The judgment of the court below is affirmed. *424