Bethlehem Steel Co. v. Hughes
Bethlehem Steel Co. v. Hughes
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The employer appeals from the affirmation by the Circuit Court of an award of the Workmen’s Compensation Commission to employee Hughes of ten weeks at $25.00 a week for disfigurement.
Hughes was injured while at work when an acetylene torch
“On slit-lamp examination, there was a faint macula in Bowmans zone above the pupillary area at 11 and below the pupillary area at 6, right cornea. The central area was clear. In the left cornea there was a small Coats ring outside the pupillary area at 6 and 8. The central pupillary area was clear. The anterior chambers were of normal depth and clear. The iris and lens were normal. The optic discs were well defined and of pink color with small central cups. The vessels and macula were normal.”
The third specialist said:
“There are two fine, superficial opacities, pinpoint in size, on the cornea. These are located medially and below, and are well outside the pupillary area. They do not impede vision, and rest of slit-lamp examination shows normal findings.”
Judge Menchine examined Hughes’ eyes in the course of the trial, and said: “* * * there is nothing in the appearance of the eyes themselves that would lead an individual to the conclusion that there was an unsightly condition in the appearance of the Claimant, and it would seem clear to the Court that if mutilation and disfigurement is reserved, in so far as compensation therefor is concerned, to cases in which the apparent outward appearance of the Claimant to other members of society was the proper and exclusive test of whether or not
He held, however, that because subsequent examinations by doctors would disclose the existence of the scar on the eye, there was a potential handicap to Hughes’ obtention of future employment as to which the court could not substitute its discretion for that of the Commission.
We do not agree. As was pointed out in Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc. v. Damasiewicz, 187 Md. 474, 480, the Legislature granted the right to awards for disfigurement because “a disfigurement may constitute an economic loss in the sense of diminished power to produce, * * * may very probably have a harmful effect upon the ability of the disfigured person to retain or secure employment, * * * may render the person repulsive or offensive to the sight and displeasing to his employer, fellow employees and customers.” It was next said that there may be individual cases in which no actual effects eventuate but that the Legislature must deal with general tendencies. Then, after noting that on appeal from the Commission the court cannot exercise its own discretion as to a disfigurement award, but can only correct an abuse of the Commission’s discretion, Judge Delaplaine, for the Court, said:
“ ‘Disfigurement’ is defined as that which impairs or injures the beauty, symmetry or appearance of a person or thing; that which renders unsightly, misshapen or imperfect, or deforms in some manner. * * * However, to justify an award under the disfigurement provision of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, there must be an outward observable scar or mutilation which tends to mar the appearance of the body. * * * For illustration, a puncture of the eardrum might result in serious injury, and yet not constitute a disfigurement within the contemplation of the Act.”
We think that “a faint macula” (an opacity) in the eye or
The courts of other States have reached the same conclusions, as do we, as to the necessity for actual disfigurement if there is to be an award. In Superior Mining Co. v. Industrial Commission, 141 N. E. 165 (the case from which the definition of disfigurement in Damasiewicz was taken), the Supreme Court of Illinois held that “two slight blue scars,” hidden when the eye is open, which could not be seen by one ten feet away were not disfiguring, saying: “It was certainly not intended * * * to authorize compensation for
The affirmation of the Commission’s order by the Circuit Court for Baltimore County must be reversed.
Judgment reversed, with costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY v. HUGHES
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- 1 case
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- Published