Rieger v. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Henderson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This appeal is from a judgment affirming an order of the State Industrial Accident Commission dismissing a claim for compensation, after the court granted a demurrer prayer withdrawing the case from the jury. The question here presented is whether there was legally sufficient evidence to show that the back injury sustained by the claimant was accidental, within the meaning of the Statute. At the time of the injury the claimant was working as a pipe fitter in an underground vault at a dam site.

Horizontal water pipes four feet in diameter entered the vault near the ceiling, which had to be connected to vertical pipes by means of elbows. These were secured by bolts through flanges and gaskets, about forty bolts to a flange. The claimant was on a scaffold about twelve feet from the ground, tightening the bolts with a three-foot box wrench. While pulling down on the wrench, a pain hit him in the back.

He did not slip or fall. He had to reach around the vertical pipe to reach the bolts which connected the horizontal pipe to the elbow. He was “off position” when tightening the bolts. There was nothing unusual about his position or the particular bolt he was tightening. “All the bolts were off balance”.

In response to a question “* * * do you usually work off balance like that?”, he replied: “That’s normal procedure, yes.” He had been doing the same type of work for about two months prior to the injury. Prior to that time he had worked as a carpenter. The law on the point seems perfectly clear. Under the