Illinois Emergency Relief Commission v. Illinois Emergency Relief Commission

ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION, No. 7.

Payment of $210.80 found to be authorized.

RICHARD DAVIS, Claimant, vs. ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION, Respondent.

Opinion filed April 13, 1937.

STATEMENT OF FACTS.

Richard Davis, 3753 Wilton Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, claims to have sustained a right internal inguinal hernia on March 19, 1935, while working as a carpenter maintenance man for the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission at Chase Park Carpenter Shop, 4410 Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago, [*571] 552 DAVIS v. ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION.

Illinois, on Project No. S1-B20-S20. Said project was maintenance and construction work which provided for personnel for maintenance and construction department at headquarters of the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission, 1319 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, and at the Chase Park Relief Office, 4410 Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

Said Department took care of alteration and repair work for the following relief agencies: Main office at 1319 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Personnel office at 1222 South

Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Unemployment Relief

Service in Cook County; Cook County Bureau of Public Welfare in Cook County; Shelters in Cook County; Transient Homes in Cook County; Mattress and Comforters Factory; Tool Department in Cook County; Warehouses in Cook County; furniture in all relief offices in the State; also the building of furniture for nursery schools. Said project was instituted on or about the 16th day of October, 1934, and was completed on or about the 2nd day of November, 1935. The total cost of said project was $83,908.50. Said amount included labor and materials. All monies for said project were furnished by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission.

This project was requested by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission for maintenance and construction work and was approved by Leo. M. Lyons, Administrator of Cook County, and A. R. Lord, Illinois Emergency Relief Commission State Administrator of Work Relief.

The General Assembly of the State of Illinois on or about the 6th day of February, 1932, created the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission. Chapter 23, Section 464, of the Illinois Revised Statutes, 1935 Edition, sets out the duties of said commission, which are as follows: "Powers and duties. It shall be the duty of the commission until March 1, 1937, to provide relief to residents of the State of Illinois, who, by reason of unemployment or otherwise, are destitute and in necessitous circumstances.

Such relief shall be provided by distributing funds or supplies and by any other means deemed desirable by the commission. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, the commission may make use of and co-operate with counties, townships, and any other municipal corporations charged by law with the duty of poor relief and with other local relief agencies."

The Illinois Emergency Relief Commission has created many departments within itself since its creation through [*573] which relief is administered; such as: Maintenance Department, Furniture Shops, Mattress Factories, Canneries, Work Relief Divisions and other divisions or departments too numerous to mention. Said Maintenance Department has charge of maintenance work in all buildings operated by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission. Said work includes carpentry, plumbing, janitor work, engineering, and general repair work. Said furniture shops manufacture furniture which is used in relief offices throughout the State. Said mattress factories manufacture mattresses for relief recipients and for shelters operated by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission. Said canneries preserve vegetables and fruits which have been grown by relief recipients on Illinois Emergency Relief Commission soil. Said Work Relief Divisions furnish men to the State Highway Department, counties, townships, cities and parks for general maintenance work.

All of the above enterprises or projects use sharp-edged cutting tools, such as saws, chisels, mattocks, and axes. Said buildings operate electric motors, elevators, and boilers, all of which are governed by municipal ordinances.

Mr. Davis was assigned to work on said project on or about the 1st day of November, 1934. Claimant had been assigned on other projects previous to the date of this accident; in fact, claimant received his first assignment in the Maintenance Department of the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission in April, 1932. Claimant worked approximately 200 hours per month and received $95.00 for his services.

Said sum was the amount of claimant's budget. Said budget was set by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission as the amount needed per month for a family the size of Mr. Davis'.

Mr. Davis was given a complete physical examination on or about September 6, 1934 by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission for work relief assignment. At that time he was given a class "A" rating. Said classification is the highest rating given in these examinations.

Mr. Davis had been instructed by August Mianulli, foreman at the Chase Park Carpenter Shop to fill a certain lumber order. Mr. Davis was lifting a 2x4 board from the bottom of a disarranged lumber pile which contained between six thousand (6,000) and seven thousand (7,000) feet of lumber. In the process of removing said 2x4, Mr. Davis' foot slipped, and at this time he felt a sharp pain in his right groin. The [*573] 554 DAVIS v. ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION.

pain became so intense that it was necessary for him to rest approximately thirty (30) minutes before he could resume his duties. Mr. Davis reported the accident to foreman August Mianulli and upon hearing the facts of the accident, he immediately referred Mr. Davis to Mr. W. H. Harvey, who was in charge of the maintenance work for the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission (See Exhibit I.) Mr. Harvey referred Mr. Davis to Dr. Phil A. Daley. Dr. Daley's findings were that claimant was suffering from a right inguinal hernia of recent origin and advised that an operation be performed to relieve the condition or that patient purchase a truss.

Mr. Frank Skinner, employee at the Chase Park Carpenter Shop, was also notified at the time of the accident (See Exhibit II).

Mr. Davis was referred to Dr. Theodore L. Lescher, 1551 North Crawford Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, for medical examination (See Exhibit III.) Mr. Davis also consulted Dr.

William Sweeney, 3956 West North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois (See Exhibit IV).

Dr. Samuel Matthews, who was claimant's physician, made an examination. Dr. Matthews stated that claimant was suffering from a right inguinal hernia of recent origin and that in order to relieve same it would be necessary to perform an operation. Mr. Davis was operated on by Dr. Samuel Matthews on the 12th day of June, 1936, at Ravenswood Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.

Hospital and medical bills were as follows: Dr. Samuel Matthews.................................................. $100.00 This sum includes operation and treatment, said treatment to continue until patient is able to resume his usual occupation.

Ravenswood Hospital .................................................. 62.80 This sum includes use of operating room, anaesthetic and dressings.

Mr. Davis was paid $48.00 for temporary partial disability on or about the 15th day of June, 1936 (See Exhibit V).

Total ..................................................................... $210.80 The sum of $210.80 has been expended as a result of said injury. Hospital and doctor's bills have been examined and found to be reasonable and fair for the services rendered.

Said hospital, doctor's bills and compensation to said claimant have been paid by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission. [*575]

Said accident arose out of, and was in the course of, claimant's employment. Claimant did not have a hernia before the present injury.

Section 3 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of the State of Illinois provides: "The provisions of this Act hereinafter following shall apply automatically and without election to the State, county, city, town, township, incorporated village or school district, body politic or municipal corporation, and to all employers and all their employees, engaged in any department of the following enterprises or businesses which are declared to be extra hazardous * * *" Section 3, subsection 8, of the Workmen's Compensation Act of the State of Illinois provides: "In any enterprise in which statutory or municipal ordinance regulations are now or shall hereafter be imposed for the regulating, guarding, use or the placing of machinery or appliances or for the protection and safeguarding of the employees or the public therein; each of which occupations, enterprises or businesses are hereby declared to be extra hazardous: Provided, nothing contained herein shall be construed to apply to any work, employment or operations done, had or conducted by farmers and others engaged in farming, tillage of the soil, or stock raising, or to those who rent, demise or lease land for any such purposes, or to any one in their employ or to any work done on a farm or country place, no matter what kind of work or service is being done or rendered."

Section 8, subsection (a), of the Workmen's Compensation Act of the State of Illinois provides: "The employer shall provide the necessary first aid medical and surgical services, and all necessary medical, surgical and hospital services thereafter, limited, however, to that which is reasonably required to cure or relieve from the effects of the injury * * *" Claimant does not ask for temporary total or permanent total disability.

ADVISORY OPINION.

Per Curiam: Pursuant to your request for an advisory opinion in the above entitled cause, based upon the foregoing statement of facts and the exhibits attached to and made a part of such statement, all of which have been submitted by you in the matter of the claim of Richard Davis against the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission, we beg to submit the following conclusions and opinion based upon such statement and exhibits, to wit: On March 19th, 1935 the claimant and the respondent were operating under and bound by the provisions of the [*575] 56 BEABRIEN v. ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION.

Workmen's Compensation Act. On said date the claimant sustained accidental injuries which arose out of and in the course of his said employment. Under the provisions of Section 8-A of the Workmen's Compensation Act, the respondent is required to provide the necessary first aid, medical and surgical services, and all necessary medical, surgical and hospital services thereafter, limited, however, to that which is reasonably required to cure or relieve from the effects of the injury.

Medical, surgical and hospital services were furnished and paid for by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission as follows: Dr. Samuel Matthews, medical and surgical services ........................................ $100.00 Ravenswood Hospital, hospital services...... 62.80 Claimant was also paid the sum of $48.00 as compensation at the rate of $16.00 per week for the period of three weeks immediately following the date of his operation.

Claimant makes no claim for compensator for any other or further disability, either temporary or permanent, sustained by him.

You desire our opinion as to whether the payments heretofore made by you as above set forth were justified.

In our opinion, the aforementioned payments made by you for medical, surgical and hospital services, and for compensation, in the total amount of Two Hundred Ten Dollars and Eighty Cents ($210.80) were authorized under the terms and provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act of this State.