Brown v. General Accident Fire & Life Assurance Corp.
Brown v. General Accident Fire & Life Assurance Corp.
Concurring Opinion
concurring specially. The first award was made on the basis of a finding that the claitnant suffered a disability because of an injury to his back. There was no men
Opinion of the Court
This is a workmen’s compensation case in which the claimant made application to the State Workmen’s Compensation Board for a hearing to determine whether there had been a change in the condition of a specific member. The claimant submitted proof that there was some disability to his left leg caused by a compensable accident, but none that the condition of the leg or the condition causing impairment in its use had changed, except that they had materially improved since the date of the award originally granting him compensation. The evidence showed that the claimant was earning more at the time of the latest hearing of the case than before he sustained the injury resulting in his previous disability. It is not necessary to summarize all of the evidence submitted on the hearing in order that this opinion be understandable.
There was evidence adduced on the hearing that the partial
On the former hearing of the instant case the board in its “findings of fact” decided as a matter of fact that the claimant’s disability was at that time confined to his back. The evidence on the hearing concerning the claimant’s use of his leg was meager and had the fact concerning the use of his legs and the cause of the same been as thoroughly developed as on the last hearing there would have been competent evidence in the record to support a finding that there was a partial permanent loss to the claimant of the use of his left leg. The finding of the board on that hearing that the disability resulting from the accident was to his back, though the condition of his leg was put in issue by his own testimony, was not excepted to and became final as to the condition of the leg at the time of the hearing. On the last hearing all of the evidence was that the condition of the leg had improved and that the claimant could use it with less pain and more effectiveness than on the previous hearing. In these circumstances the Workmen’s Compensation Board ruled correctly in denying the claimant’s application based on a change of condition.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.