35 So. 2d 54 | Ala. Ct. App. | 1948
Certiorari having been granted on petition of O. J. Wells, defendant below, appellant here, this proceeding is to review a decree of the Circuit Court of Coffee County awarding compensation to the plaintiff below, appellee here, for injuries sustained while an employee of the defendant below.
The proceedings below were instituted under the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Law, Chapter 5, Title 26, Code of Alabama 1940.
The finding of facts by the lower court is fully set forth in his decree, is not challenged by the appellant, and is as follows:
"It appears from the pleadings, evidence and admissions in this case that on March 11, 1947, the plaintiff, Haywood Morris, was an employee of the defendant, O. J. Wells, and on said date was employed as a log cutter, his duties being to cut down standing trees and saw them into proper lengths, was engaged in such employment with a fellow employee, Arthur Baxter; that the employer transported plaintiff and other employees each day from plaintiff's *499 home in Enterprise to a point between Elba and Brantley, more than twenty miles, where employer was engaged in cutting timber and sawing same into lumber; that plaintiff took his lunch with him each day, as did the other employees, which fact was known to the employer; that the employees were allowed thirty minutes each day for lunch, the lunch on the day in question was eaten by the plaintiff and others on the premises under the control of the defendant, but on which the timber had been cut and which was about a half quarter from the place that the plaintiff and his saw partner had been working about 25 yards from the last log sawn by plaintiff and about a quarter of a mile from the mill; that the employer furnished a can of fuel oil to his employees to rub on the saws to prevent rust; that during the lunch period plaintiff built a small fire to make coffee to drink with his lunch, attempted to use the can or jug of fuel oil to make the fire burn in order to make his coffee, when the flame ran from the fire to the jug causing the explosion resulting in serious injuries to plaintiff; that the employees were accustomed to hang their lunches in the woods near where they were working each day, and at the noon hour, would get them and eat; that the employer had immediate actual notice of the injuries sustained by plaintiff; that defendant sent plaintiff on defendant's truck to Elba, after plaintiff informed him he wished to be sent to the hospital at Enterprise, that defendant gave the truck driver $5.00 to get a taxi cab to transport plaintiff from Elba to the hospital at Enterprise; that plaintiff sustained second and third degree burns of both legs and right hand; that plaintiff stayed in the hospital from March 11 to March 21, 1947, that he was examined again between August 15 and September 1 by said hospital clinic, where it was found that his burns had healed except for several small areas, which will require skin grafting for complete healing; that his hospital bill to the time of trial amounted to $145.40, and there will be additional charges for complete healing; that plaintiff has been totally disabled from the time of his injuries to the date of trial, had to be brought into the court room by others, not being able to walk, and this total disability will continue until his burns are completely healed; that plaintiff's wage was $6.00 per day, that he began work with defendant on April 9, 1946, working regularly, though not every day each week, from that time to November 22, 1946, with the exception of one week in September and one week in October, 1946, when he did no work at all; plaintiff did no work from November 15, 1946, until February 17, 1947, when he resumed his work for defendant, and worked regularly until he sustained his injuries on March 11; that plaintiff worked 34 weeks for a total wage of $802.75, and his average weekly wage $23.61.
"The Court finds that the plaintiff and defendant were at all times alleged in the complaint subject to the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Law of Alabama; that the plaintiff was an employee of defendant on March 11, 1947, within the jurisdiction of this court, and received an injury as the result of an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment for defendant on that date, and as a result of the accident plaintiff is suffering a temporary total disability, and is entitled to compensation based upon the extent of such disability during such time as the disability continues; that said accident causing said injury to plaintiff was second and third degree burns on the legs and arm.
"The Court further finds from the evidence that the defendant had knowledge of the accident within 90 days from the date of the accident and that suit was filed for compensation within one year; that plaintiff was at all times mentioned in his complaint a married man and living with his wife, that his average weekly earnings for the purpose of computing compensation was $23.61; that his compensation is fixed at 60% of that amount, or $14.16."
The sole question presented on this review is whether the injury to the plaintiff employee was caused by an accident "arising out of and in the course of his employment," which conditions are necessary before recovery can be had under our Workmen's Compensation Law. *500
We will first consider whether the plaintiff's injuries were incurred in the course of his employment.
The phrase "in the course of" refers to the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident took place. An injury to an employee is in the course of his employment when it occurs within the period of his employment, at a place where he may reasonably be, and while he is reasonably fulfilling the duties of his employment or engaged in doing something incident to it. Mobile Liners, Inc., v. McConnell,
Nourishment being essential to the continued efficiency of the employee in the performance of his work, the courts have been liberal in protecting the workers during the lunch hour, and have almost unanimously concluded that where the employee is eating his lunch on the employer's premises that such lunch period is considered in the course of employment. Horowitz on Workmen's Compensation, p. 156 and following; DeStafano v. Alpha Lunch Co.,
The fact that the plaintiff employee in this case may have been negligent in the handling of the fuel oil can of course in no way affect his right of recovery.
Under the facts of this case, and the principles above set forth we are clear to the conclusion that the injury sustained by this plaintiff must be considered as having occurred in the course of his employment.
We now consider whether the plaintiff's injuries can be said to "arise out of" his employment.
The phrase "arises out of * * * employment" refers to employment as the cause and source of the injury. In other words, the phrase points to the origin of the accident. Irwin-Neisler and Co. v. Industrial Commission et al.,
" 'The rational mind must be able to trace the resultant personal injury to a proximate cause set in motion by the employment, and not by some other agency.' Madden's Case,
In his excellent and painstaking opinion in Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Bruce, supra [
"In Ex parte Rosengrant,
It matters not that the risk from the accident in question may have been external to the employment if the employment caused the exposure to the risk. Boris Const. Co. v. Haywood,
In this case the plaintiff, because of his remoteness in the woods at the lunch hour and the limited time of the lunch period, had no choice as a practical matter but to eat in the woods where he was working. Such a situation not only suggested but invited the heating of coffee to accompany the eating under such circumstances. His employment was therefore a contributing cause to the injury he sustained, and the injury was reasonably related to his employment.
In Dzikowska v. Superior Steel Co.,
"Acts of ministration by a servant to himself, such as quenching his thirst, relieving his hunger, protecting himself from excessive cold, performance of which while at work are reasonably necessary to his health and comfort, are incident to his employment and acts of service therein within the workmen's compensation acts, though they are only indirectly conducive to the purpose of employment."
In Whiting-Mead Commercial Company v. Industrial Accident Commission et al.,
"From these cases there is deducible a rule which is thus stated in one of them (Archibald v. Ott [
In addition to the legal principles above enunciated we think that the court's observations as to the use of tobacco are equally applicable to coffee.
The Workmen's Compensation Act was intended to serve a beneficent purpose, and should be liberally construed so as to effectuate its purpose and humane design. Boris Const. Co. v. Haywood, supra. Further, it has been uniformly the view in this jurisdiction that if there is any reasonable view of the evidence that will support the conclusion reached by the trial court, the finding and judgment will not be disturbed. Ex parte Sloss-Sheffield Steel Iron Co.,
We therefore conclude that under the facts of this case above set out, and the legal principles applicable thereto, no error should be attached by this court to the conclusion reached by the trial court that plaintiff's injuries did arise out of his employment.
It follows therefore that this cause is due to be affirmed and it is so ordered.
Affirmed.