135 F.2d 258 | D.C. Cir. | 1943
Appellant’s husband died June 23, 1938, of injuries which he suffered as an employee of appellee Behrend. The Deputy Commissioner awarded compensation to appellant as widow. At the suit of the employer and the insurance carrier, the District Court has enjoined the Deputy Commissioner and the widow from enforcing the award. The widow appeals but the Deputy Commissioner does not.
The Compensation Act
The Deputy Commissioner, on sufficient evidence, found that the employee married appellant August 8, 1934, and lived with her some sixteen months [until about December, 1935] in a rooming house which she operated in Washington; that he then left her and moved to another house in Washington; “that the reason for the separation was his desire to obtain employment from the Public Relief Bureau, and his belief that he would not be eligible for such employment if living with his wife who conducted a rooming house; that relief was granted him as well as occasional employment; that the employee remained on friendly terms with his wife, and that they met frequently up to the date of his death; that the employee contributed to his wife’s support whenever he was able to and in such amounts as he was able to afford. * * * ” The Deputy Commissioner found that at the time of the employee’s death appellant was “living apart for justifiable cause.” The District Court held that this finding was not supported by substantial evidence.
We think the court was right. The term “justifiable cause” is familiar in connection with divorce and separation. It is substantially equivalent to “a matrimonial offense.” We think Congress used the term in its legal sense. No doubt married people may be justified in living apart for any reason that seems to them good; but with possible exceptions not pertinent here, a wife who lives apart does so for what is called “justifiable cause” only when she does so because of her husband’s matrimonial misconduct.
Appellant contends that the court should have remanded the case to the Dep
It has been held that a wife who is obliged by reasons of health, economic necessity, or the like to spend most of her time at a distance from her husband may nevertheless be “living with” him, in the statutory sense, provided they intend to live together in the full sense when they can and are together as much as practicable in the meantime;
Affirmed.
Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C.A. § 901 et seq., 44 Stat. 1424, made applicable in the District of Columbia as a workmen’s compensation act by D.C.Code, 1929, tit. 19, § 11; Code, 1940, § 36 — 501; 45 Stat. 600, 33 U.S.C.A. § 901 note.
33 U.S.C.A. § 902 (16).
Williams v. Lawson, 5 Cir., 35 F.2d 346.
Southern R. Co. v. Cartwright, 64 App.D.C. 288, 77 F.2d 546; In re Newman’s Case, 222 Mass. 563, 111 N.E. 359, L.R.A.1916C, 1145; Veber v. Mass. Bonding & Ins. Co., 224 Mass. 86, 112 N.E. 485; Martilla v. Quincy Mining Co., 221 Mich. 525, 191 N.W. 193, 30 A.L.R. 1249; Bjorkstrand v. Klagstad, 262 Mich. 186, 247 N.W. 149; Albee’s Case, 128 Me. 126, 145 A. 742. Contra, Broughey v. Mowry Grain Co., 61 R.I. 221, 200 A. 768.
Cf. Parks v. Parks, 73 App.D.C. 93, 116 F.2d 556.
Cf. Veber v. Mass. Bonding & Ins. Co., supra, note 4.
London Guarantee & Accident Co. v. Hoage, 64 App.D.C. 105, 106, 75 F.2d 236; Harris v. Hoage, 62 App.D.C. 275, 66 F.2d 801.
Moss Tie Co. v. Tanner, 5 Cir., 44 F.2d 928, cert. denied, 283 U.S. 829, 51 S.Ct. 353, 75 L.Ed. 1442; Harrington's Case, 297 Mass. 125, 7 N.E.2d 732.
Cf. In re Nelson, 217 Mass. 467, 105 N.E. 357; Finn v. Detroit, Mt. C. & M. City Ry., 190 Mich. 112, 155 N.W. 721, L.R.A.1916C, 1142.