Illinois Emergency Relief Commission v. Illinois Emergency Relief Commission

ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION, No. 8.

Payment of $166.25 found to be authorized.

MARK BEAUBIEN, Claimant, vs. ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION, Respondent.

Opinion filed April 13, 1937.

STATEMENT OF FACTS.

Mark Beaubien, 1731 North Whipple Street, Chicago, Illinois, claims to have sustained an incomplete inguinal hernia on the left side on or about the 10th day of October, [*577] 1935, while employed as a laborer for the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission on Project No. 51-B20-820. 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; mattresses 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 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 [*578] 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. Beaubien was assigned to work on said project on or about the 16th day of November, 1934. Claimant worked approximately 190 hours per month and for his services received $95.00 per month. Mr. Beaubien had been directed by Mr. W. R. Harvey, who was in charge of all maintenance work for the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission, to go to 188 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois, and assist other men in moving certain fixtures from said office. Part of Mr. Beaubien's duties at the time heretofore mentioned were to assist in loading a hand truck with material which was to be moved and then push same into the street, where it was to be loaded on to motor trucks. Said trucks when filled weighed approximately one thousand (1,000) pounds. On this one occasion, Mr. Beaubien was pushing said hand truck up a small incline when his foot slipped and as a result, the truck slid back towards him. Mr. Beaubien tried to keep the truck from going down the incline and as a result of his pressure against the truck, he felt a pain in his left side. When Mr.

Beaubien returned to the floor with the other employees he had been assigned to work with, he told Mr. Frank Losas, Mr. Marino Modivi, and Mr. William Hartley what had happened (See Exhibits I, II, and III). [*578]

BEAUBIEN v. ILLINOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMISSION. 379 Mr. Beaubien was referred to Dr. Michael C. Goy, 1574 Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, for examination. Said examination was made on or about February 12, 1936 (See Exhibit IV).

Dr. Theodore L. Lescher, 1551 North Crawford Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, examined Mr. Beaubien and stated that Mr. Beaubien was suffering from a left inguinal hernia of recent origin. Dr. Lescher recommended that the hernia be operated on immediately (See Exhibit V).

Hospital and medical bills were as follows: Dr. Theodore L. Lescher........................................ $100.00 Said sum includes operation and treatment, said treatment to continue until patient is able to resume his usual occupation. (See Exhibit VI).

Dr. Theodore L. Lescher........................................ 5.00 Medical examination. (See Exhibit VII).

St. Anne's Hospital ........................................... 61.25 Said sum includes use of operating room, anaesthetic and dressings.

The sum of $166.25 has been expended as a result of said injury. Hospital and medical bills have been examined and found to be reasonable. Said bills have been paid by the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission.

Said accident arose out of, and 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 [*580] 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 Mark Beaubien against the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission, we beg to submit the following conclusions and opinion based upon such statement and exhibits, to wit:

On the 10th day of October, A. D. 1935, the claimant and the respondent were operating under and bound by the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act; that on said date the claimant sustained accidental injuries which arose out of and in the course of his said employment; that 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, to wit:

Dr. Theodore L. Lescher, medical and surgical services ..................................$105.00 St. Anne's Hospital, hospital services......... 61.25

Total .......................................$166.25

[*581] Claimant makes no claim for compensation for any 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, in the total amount of One Hundred Sixty-six Dollars and Twenty-five Cents ($166.25) were authorized under the terms and provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act of this State.