Boyce v. Hudson County Mosquito Commission
Boyce v. Hudson County Mosquito Commission
Opinion of the Court
This is a workmen’s compensation case. There is little doubt that at some time before midnight on August 10th, 1934, the petitioner sustained a fracture, apparently complete, of both tibia and fibula of the right leg. He was in the employ of the prosecutor commission at the time, and had been working during the day at various places in the county as helper on a truck from which oil was distributed and spread in cellars and other places likely to breed mosquitoes. Working hours ended at about five o’clock. His claim was that while coming up from a cellar with a can of oil and a "gun” (sprayer) he slipped and sustained the injury above described. The defense was that he had sustained no such injury while at work or at any time or place connected with his work. The deputy commissioner made an award in his favor, which the Pleas affirmed in a short memorandum containing no discussion of the evidence. This we have examined with care, and though not unmindful of the principle that the concurring view of the two lower
Mack, a witness for Boyce, said that while waiting outside McCarter’s office Boyce told him of a pain in the leg; that he was with Boyce the rest of the evening and nothing unusual occurred; that he noticed nothing unnatural in his
Boyce’s wife testified that he came home about eleven-ten and complained of his leg, but went to bed and Dr. Bussell was called the next day.
Dr. Bussell, sworn, said Boyce had a “terrific deformity of the right leg;” that he asked him how it happened, and was told that he “was wrestling with a fellow down town last night, and fell off a stoop and hurt his leg.” (This is denied by Boyce and his wife.) That both fractures were complete. The medical evidence was substantially uniform that they were disabling and would prevent walking.
McCarter testified that Boyce did not report any accident to him at the garage; that he was at McCarter’s house till about nine p. M., when they went to Tomlinson’s place, where Boyce was on his feet all the time; that he was “dancing and jigging” with two others, and without any indication of pain.
"We have no difficulty in concluding, on the uncontradicted testimony about the severity of the fracture, and as to what Boyce admittedly did thereafter by way of walking and climbing stairs, that he could not have sustained such a fracture while at work. That with it a man could walk across the street, board a truck, climb fourteen steps to McCarter’s office and down again, and sit in with a drinking party, all without any indication of severe pain, seems against all reason. We are clear that the evidence was far from sustaining the award, and therefore it must be set aside, and judgment entered for the prosecutor, with costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.