COMPENSATION CASES

Grey River Argus, 6 December 1932, Page 3

COMPENSATION CASES

ARBITRATION COURT Greymouth Sitting The quarterly sessions of the Arbitration Court opened at Greymouth yesterday before Mr .Justice Fraser, and Messrs A. L. Monteith (employees’ assessor), and W. Cecil Prime (employers’ assessor). £lOOO CLAIM FAILS. 'J'he Public Trustee, as executor of the will of the late John Martin Dillon, of Kotuku, labourer, claimed £lOOO compensation from Sparks Ltd., allegedly as the result of an accident to the deceased at the Grey Power Board’s hydro electric works at Kaimata. on August 21, 1031. 'The suppliant was represented by Mr J. W. Hannan, and the defendant company by Mr C. S. Thomas, of Christchurch, on whose application all witnesses were ordered out of Court. 'The statement of claim set. out that iht- deceased John Martin Dillon met with an accident on August 21, .1931, during the course of his employment in that, when totting a heavy truck he strained and injured his heart, and that in consequence he remained totally incapacitated up to September -1, 1932. upon which dale his death resulted from the injury by the acident. 'The average weekly earnings of the deceased, calculated in acc<»r<l:ince with the provisions <>f the Workers’ Compensation Act. were not less than £5. It was further claimed that deceased’s wife and two children were dependent on him. 'The claim was for £lOOO compen>ation and medical ami funeral expensThe defence was a denial that any accident occurred, or that Dillon suffered any injury by accident during the course of his employment, in that when lifting a truck he strained or injured his heart. Sylvester Adamson, an employee of Sparks Ltd., said h<‘ was working with the deceased on August 21. .1931 Dillon appeared in good health and had worked two or three hours when he complained. ’They had been working in the tail race and the filling of trucks had been heavy work, the material having to he thrown two feet over his head. When a full truck was

taken to the end of the lip, the top of the truck had to be slewed around on its swivel. 'J’he last truck witness’ and Dillon emptied was rather too heavily loaded and when after witness and Dillon had tipped it, Dillon mentioned he had ricked or strained himself. Witness unloaded the truck and when they went back to the tail race Dillon shovelled about three shovels-ful of metal and had t<> knock off, another man replacing him. Dillon was a hard worker, or what might be termed a bulloeker. 'There was no weakness about him or he would not have been there. 'To Mr Thomas: Dillon was in good health when he went on the job. He could not say if Dillon had been off a week before the accident owing to illhealth. Dillon had not told witness previously that he was feeling crook. He could not say if Dillon had had a light job. He knew’ Dillon was winchdriving. He had not known of Dillon 1 eing off work. To Mr Hannan: There was not. a third man named Grant working there that day. Grant would probably be down al the Power House. The statement he made to the insurance agent in September, 1931. agreed with his evidence now. He had given the statement to the insiii;c agent in answer to questions. Leonard James Saunders said he saw Dillon on the night of August 21, 1931. He was coming along the race and stated that he had hurt himself ami ■ was going home. The back shift started at 5 o’clock, and it would be somewhere about 7 o’clock when he met deceased. Stanley Hartshorne, foreman, said the Inst day Dillon worked on the job was some time in August. He met Dillon between 7 and 8 o’clock, and he told witness he had “kinked himself’ and was going home. Dillon was one of the best workers on the job. Trucking was heavy work. Dillon had been working on the winches and had also been trucking previously. To Mr Thomas: Witness told the insurance company that he had reported the matter to Mr McKay. Deceased had had previous accidents but they were not serious. He knew nothing about Dillon having another accident on August 11. McKay met witness and asked him where Dillon was on August 22. He did not say to McKay that he thought Dillon was swinging the lead. Witness was in hospital the same time as Dillon, suffering from a strain, and he considered he was entitled to compensation, but did not get it. Hp was sore about not getting it.

Mrs Margaret Josephine Dillon, widow of the deceased, said there were two children, who were totally dependent on her lat e husband for support. Witness lived about four miles from the hydro works and on August 21, I 1931 her husband came home between. 9.30 o'clock and 10 o’clock. He said he had met with an accident, having strained himself whilst working with Mr Adamson in un’oading a truck. Hpv husband appeared very shaky and was out of breath. H e never worked after that date, finally entering the hospital for treatment. Her husband was off work ’for about a week a few weeks previous to August 21 with a cold, and he got some medicine for bronchitis. Prior to that his health was pretty good. To Mr Monteith: Hpp husband was 33 years of ago. To Mr Thomas: She could not explain why her husband did not make any explanation to Dr. Afcßroarty that he had suffered a strain. Witness did

not know anything about, her husband having shaky turns. “Can you give a ny reason for your husband basing his claim on an accident on August 11th?” asked counsel. Witness said she could not remember how many days her husband was off work. She had noticed nothing wrong with her husband’s eating. 'Thomas Dillon, father of the deceased, said his son was a healthy man. He had rheumatic fever when he was about 12 years of age. Dr. J. F. (’. Moore. Medical Superjn p mleni at th e Grey Hospital, said he at leaded the deceased, who died al the Grey Hospital on September 4, .1932, f.om hear | failure. Deceased told wit i.ess Re had been doing heavy trucking and 'felt off colour. Two or three days previously he had been lifting a h*‘avy truck and felt something go in the left side of his chest. It was obvious that deceased "'as acutely ill. and could not work. Deceased refused to believe witness and thought that if he had a ionic for a few days hi* would be all right. Under pressure of medical advice he entered th p hospital. Witness told deceased he could not give him a crtificate that the trouble was primarily due to the effect Ot lifting the truck, ns he could not find any previous cause why his heart should be diseased Deceased’s kidneys were good, and his blood quite all right. Deceased s position became worse and he was re 1 admitted to the hospital during August. J 932, and during that period of illness witness carefully inquired from his father as to his son’s health, and he p'a.ne<l that at the age of 12 years, John DiTon hud rheumatic fever. 'The hear; was unable to withstand the final strain If it were that deceased had bronchitis it might provide an extra reason why the heart brok ( . down on August 21. 'To Mr 'Thomas: Deceased had stated he had been doing heavy trucking for about a fortnight, and had not been heeling well. 'This concluded th p case for the sup-i pliant, and evidence was the n called for the defence. Arthur N’ lsou Grimstone, Inspector | of the State Eire Insurance Department, said he saw the deceased, also Hartshorne and Grant, and pro-duced statemonts from them . D'ecased said h<' was “too crook ’ to come into 10" n on the Saturday, but he came in on the M omlay. To Mr Hannan: lie saw Dillon about six times. Dillon gave witness details of the Occident from a diary Dillon ga\ - '- the statcmmii without (inestiouing. Dr. .1. W. Mcl’.rearty said the <lo I • eased saw witness on August 22. In appearance deceased was anaemic and

pale looking. He told witness he w:* y . not f< cling well and would like, him to have a look at him. lb* complained °' r giddy tuns during work. Witness found a dilated heart, but th e pulse regular. The other organs were normal. Deceased was a sick man. He told witness he had had rheumatic fever a few vcaFs ago. lie made no reference to <i strain. To Mr Hannan: I agrop that the lift that took jilace could have had the effect of breaking down his compensa tioii; it is quite possible if the heart was in a weakened condition. Dr. E. W. Giesen, of Wellington, said he had examined the deceased with Dr. Grey, in .December, ,193.1. He htid told them that he was 31 y c ars ° l[ age and that he had been doing heavy work. He had also told them that he had a strange feeling in his left side <is if something had gone “bung. ’’ He said that he had been lifting a truck on tri the line, and had had 1” sit down; evcrvthing had gone grey. He Itad gotid home a iid had two brandies. He, was t"O ill on Saturday and Sunday to see the doctor, but he held gone in on the ALonday. Witness’s examination had disclosed that he had an advanced stage of heart disease and witness considered that if he had gone to a doctor 1 hrep or four months previously he would have been fold to rest. He had svmptoms which really did not affect, him. and he had carried on until the In reply to Mr Hannan, witness said that the deceas'd had a most abnormal blood pressure whe H examined, which ■was a characteristic of heart, disease. Air Hannan: On August 24, Dr. Aldore said that his blood pressure was normal. Either Dr. Aloore was wrong, or else your opinion otf his condition on that date was wrong. Witness; He suffered from aortic valve disease, and thp medical ovideneo has shown that. Air Hannan: You opinion was that he had reached the end of his normal course, and in August was unfit for work?—Yes. You would expect him to have an abnormal blood pressure?—l would expect that. James Henderson Keddie, chemist, of Greymouth, gave evidence that the de ceased had called upon him on August 14 when he appeared to be suffering from a chill and witness had given him physic which apparently suited the Phillip Courtn'“y Hcaphy, of Nan-

earrow and Go., Greymouth. said that Dillon had seen him about the claim and had made a statement (produced). To His Honour: W P are agents To r Spark’s Ltd., not the Insurance Com pany. I took the details of the man wh f, n he came in with the certificate on September 28.

William Gordon AlcKay, Engineer in Cha’ge oif the Hydro Works, produced the time shoots showing the work done by the deceased, lie said that prior to the deceased going away on holidays the men had worked two days in snow, hut only a f fl "' inches of it. The do ceased had be n n off from the 13th t° the 21st, and on inquiry from his mates witness had been told by a number that hp had the ’flu. Who n the de ceased was finally off. witness had asked Hartshorne where hp was. and Hartshorne had said that he was probably “swinging the lead.’’ Witness had never hoard anything about an accident. The Court then retired to consider their decision.

After a short adjournment, His Honour said that the claim in the case before the Court was based on the assumption that the deceased injured his heart in tipping a truck on August 21 1931. n nd got progressively worse, dying on Sept. 4, 1932. and 1 h<i(_ his death was thp direct result of the strain. It was not disput'd by anyone that, a man might strain a diseased heart, but it was not possible to strain a healthy heart A diseased hearj was a misfortune to bp affected with, and i’T it was sD’ained at work, then Hie claimant was 'Hilt led f.o compensation. Proof, however, had to be given to the Court that a definite strain had been received, which would cause further damage to the h art. 'That proof must be COg' nt and must carry with all the cir cuinsinnccs and thorp must not be material conl radictions in the evidence. ’They had conflicting statements as to wb.nt happen'd on August 21. 'They had a definite statement from dr-ceased ilia! he was too ill In come into town, and had visited Dr. Mcßrearty. who«n evidence was of the utmost importance, because of the facts he observed and the statements made to him by deceased. Doctors might diff'r. as did law yers, but in this ease Jess than 2 4 | hours after the accident, this man win to Dr, Alcßiearf v. am 1 his hrait was ab.-olnielv regular, and he made no coinplmi t <•[ having snsta;u'“d any strain. There, was also the fa<‘t cd deceased having made statements to Dr. M< Brearty of having dizzy fits during the past fortnight, which show ej they were not only apparent the night before, but previously. Then lher ( . was the question of the* alleged accident having occu’rrfl on August 11 'They also had the evidence o'f Air Keddie’. deceased having to’d him that he suffered from sleeplessness and he sold deceased a sedative There were con tr.'idictory* statements and in view of Hr se circumstances, it was impossible to sav whi/tlvr it -was on August 11. which date was not alleged, or August 21, on which date it "'as alleged that h,- strained his heart. What was the most p'robable case and what was ad mitt cd by all of the doctors, was that deceased was doing work that was too much foy a diseased heart such as he had. gradually getting to ihp stage where it caused Hie heart to develop symptoms. The Act. however, did not provide for compensation for a man whose heart failed through disease and could not work any longer. There* was a vast differenc'* between a failing heart 'failing to tackle work, and heart damaged by sonic effort or strain. Judgment must therefore !><• for the defendant Gonipany. J/ave would be !'• ADJOURNMENT objected to. 1 When the (•ompensation claim for weekly payments of £4 from July 25, 1930, to date, by John Henry Darwell against the Briandale Collieries Ltd. was called, Air T. F. Brosnan, on behalf of Mr P. J. O 'Regan, applied for an a • Ijou in inent of the ease. Air <S. 'Thomas, for the defendant company, objected to an adjournment being granted. Mr Brosnan dealt lengthily with tin* reasons for the application. Ho said Mr O’Regan could not attend owing to his having cases at Nelson and Blenheim which had to be disposed of b(*fore the end of the year. The case before the court was a very important one. there being lengthy medical evi- i deuce which was difficult. His Honour: Ts there any special reason why you or some other counsel 4 hould not be instructed to go on with the case? Air Brosnan said it was not until last 'Thursday that Air O’Regan know it would not fit with his visit to the West Coast. Air Thomas said it was quite obvious that there was more than one counsel in New Zealand. Air O’Regan and all other counsel in Now Zealand knew roughly how long the murder trial would last at Blenheim, thii’s delaying the other court proceedings there. The case was not a difficult one and any (•ouns(‘l with average intelligence could work up a brief in a day. The position was that in Juno, 1930, the accident was alleged to have taken place. The medical evidence would be a denial that there was osteo myelitis in the

early stages. Suppliant was sent over to Christchurch in January. 1931, and he was there notified by the Christchurch doctors that ho suffered from osteo myelitis, resulting, in their opinion. from an accident. In February, 1931, a letter came from suppliant’s father demanding payment of compensation, and in Alay, 1931, Mr O’Rogan also wrote in connection with the claim, and stated: “I understand you are not going to make anything of the question of time.” The company denied all liability. AVere they to have the matter hanging fire for the next six months, as he understood it would be before the next sitting? Air Brosnan could get Air O’Regan on th* phone and fix up regarding the case. After all. there were plenty of counsel in New Zealand looking for jobs today. It would be an extraordinary position if it was tolerated in this court that a counsel could attend other courts and say “Aly client cannot suffer. Adjourn the case until T attend. ’ ’

Air Brosnan said ho claimed to be one of the intelligent counsel Mr Thomas had referred to. but he was not prepared to go on with the case the next morning.

His Honour said that they could not look nt the sentimental side. The question was. what was counsel’s duty? They had to look nt the other side as well as Hint of claimant. After the court adjourned for a short interval. His Honour announced that it had considered the question. The rule was Ihnt where counsel had two or more court sittings to attend, he should arrange for an extra counsel. Air O ’R°gan had been told bv Mr Justice Blair that the cases in Nelson would rot clash with the present Arbitration Court sitting. Tt was not until a few days ago that he know he could not be here. Afr O ’Rogan had thought he could arrange an adjourn-

ment with Air Hannan, but Mr Hannan was only acting for Air Thomas. The court considered that Air O’Regan had had time to obtain the services of another counsel. Even if it were thought that Mr O’Regan could argue a particular point, there was nothing to stop him from sending a summary to another counsel. Mr O’Regan’s duty was to consider, along with his client, the other side. If it were at all possible the court could sit at Greymouth on Wednesday and hear the case, but the difficulty wa? the distance between here and Nelson, and in obtaining the facts of the ease from Air O’Regan. Ah ’Thomas asked if legal argument could be heard at Westport, between a (•oiiiisel representing Mr O’Regan and himsidf (Mr Thomas). Mr Brosnan said that Mr O Rogan had a case coming on in Westport, but he could, not. take that, either. His Honour said the court considered Mr O'Rogan should have instructed other counsel on Friday, but so as not to prejudice, suppliant’s claim, the case would bo adjourned if he bore the costs. 'The court thought that as Dr. Giesen was in Greymouth, if Air Brosnan were given instructions, they could go on with Dr. Giesen’s evidence, and hear Hie legal point nt Westport on Friday, the costs of the adjournment to bo paid by suppliant. Air O’Rogan could id’trm’t. Air Brosnan or some other counsel as to his delone£ on the legal point, by a summary dn ’writing. CASE SETTLED. When tile claim of William Ryall against the Grey County Council for compensation (weekly payments) was called, Mr .1. W. Hannan, for the suppliant. said that the ease had been setlied. and he asked that it bo struck out accordingly. £l3OO Damages AGAINST A MOTORIST. NELSON, December 5. Bhudie M Cooto was awarded £l3OO dansages against C. C. Challis for injuries sustained through being knockid down by a ear driven by the dof.’iulr.n t.