Fowler v. City of Atlanta
Fowler v. City of Atlanta
Opinion of the Court
The sole question in this compensation case is whether there is a presumption or authorized inference that a compensable injury was a contributing cause of the employee’s death while he was still receiving compensation provided in an approved agreement, which, of course, stands on the same footing as an award.
The only evidence touching upon the question of cause of death was a death certificate, which showed the cause of death to be “papillary adenocarcinoma of lung.” The board found that, where an employee dies while entitled to workmen’s compensation, a presumption arises that his death resulted from the accident and injury for which the employee was being paid at the time of his death. This statement of the law is incorrect. We are not aware of a ruling in any case which is susceptible to such a construction.
It is true that this court, in Lockheed Aircraft Corp. v. Marks, 88 Ga. App. 167 (76 SE2d 507), made an incorrect statement,
The italicized portion of the above quotation from Marks is not supported by any case cited in connection therewith. It is incorrect because such facts alone will not authorize “a natural and reasonable inference, sufficient to support a finding by the board, that the accidental injury was the proximate cause of the employee’s death, in the absence of other than conjectural evidence to the contrary.” The statement is wrong because the facts of injury, continuous disability and death do not necessarily furnish evidence of sufficient probative value to authorize the stated permissible inference. An injured employee’s death could be due to innumerable causes which have not the remotest connection with the injury. The mere facts of injury, continued disability and death do not in and of themselves contain one iota of evidence of any probative value whatsoever as to the cause of death.
The statement is wrong also because it places upon the employer and insurance carrier the burden of proving the cause of death, whereas the only duty of the employer and insurance carrier is to rebut the evidence of a claimant which has sufficient probative value to authorize a finding that the death is compensable. “In order for a death to be compensable to a dependent under the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Law, it must result instantly from an accident ... , or later
The court did not err in reversing the award of the board.
Judgment affirmed.
070rehearing
On Motion for Rehearing.
The motion requests a remand to the board for the purpose of the introduction of medical testimony on the question of causal connection between the injury and death of the employee in view of the statements by this court concerning its part in the erroneous statements in the decisions cited. If the claimant had not already been given the opportunity to do exactly what she now asks for we would be inclined to grant the request for an opportunity to present medical testimony which would authorize or tend to authorize a finding for the claimant. However, the board has already remanded this case to the deputy director for this very purpose. In the order of remand the board stated: “. . . no medical evidence was introduced touching on the question of intervening causes of death or causal connection. In view of the above, the majority of the board desires to have ad
Rehearing denied.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.