Yoshida v. Nichols
Yoshida v. Nichols
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Yoma Kenzi Yoshida, an employe of C. W. Nichols, was assaulted and injured by Hikisuki Lakamoto, a fellow employe. Yoshida filed a petition for compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation act. Pamph. L. 1911, p. 136; Cum. Supp. Comp. Stat., p. 3868, § **236-1, et seq. The workmen’s compensation bureau found that the injuries were not caused by an accident arising out of the employment and dismissed the petition. On appeal the Essex Common Pleas affirmed that order, and the judgment in the Pleas is now before us on writ of certiorari.
Petitioner seeks to present, as the issue, the question, novel in this state, whether an employe injured by a fellow employe in a fight in which the first mentioned is not the aggressor, the fight growing out of an altercation concerning the manner of doing the work of the respective employments, may recover compensation as for an accident arising out of his employment. We think that the facts do not present that issue.
Yoshida was, technically, the butler, and Lakamoto the houseman, and some of their duties dovetailed. There was
The prosecutor contends that the assault is directly traceable to the dispute of September 6th, but we do not find the supporting proof. There is no proof of what transpired between the two men either before the incident of the sixth or following that and until the eleventh. Those matters were easily susceptible of full proof.
We are asked to find that Lakamoto made the assault because five days before, he resented something that Yoshida had then said to him; but we conclude that the causal connection has not been established either by direct proof or by reasonable inference. In other words, we are unable to trace the act to the employment in terms of causation. That being so, it is beside the point to consider whether, so connected, the act would be an accident arising out of the employment within the meaning of the statute.
Deputy Commissioner Stahl, sitting for the workmen’s compensation bureau, found that “the assault was the result
The judgment below will be affirmed, without costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.