Mabel Albright v. State of Illinois — 13 Ill. Ct. Cl. 54

MABEL ALBRIGHT, Claimant, Z’S. STATE OF ILLINOIS, Respondent.

Case summary

Claimant, an employee at Lincoln State School and Colony, slipped on ice and fractured her hip. The court found total disability from April 9, 1938 to June 1, 1939, and awarded $625.21 for temporary total disability, but denied permanent loss because the record was insufficient to separate prior injury effects.

Claim type: Personal Injury Negligence

AI-generated summary from the opinion text — may contain errors. The opinion text and PDF above are the official record.

Headnotes

WORKMEN’SCOMPENSATION Am-clam under by employee of Lin- 1

S. ELLIS, f o r claimant. WTLLIAM GEORGE F. BARRETT, Attorney General; ROBERT V. ‘ IOSTROM, Assistant Attorney General, f o r respondent. IWORKMEN’SCOMPENSATION Am-clam under by employee of Lin- 1 coln State School and Colony- when a y a r d for compensation under Act may be made. Where it is undisputed that employee of State sustained I accidental injuries, arising out of, and in the course of her employment, while engaged in extra-hazardous employment, resulting i n temporary total disability, an award may be made for compensation therefor, upon her compliance with t h e terms of the Act, in the amount, and as provided therein.

ECHERT, J.

On April 9, 1938, the claimant, Mabel Albright, an employee of the respondent at the Lincoln State School and Colony, slipped and fell upon a patch of ice on the grounds of the institution, sustaining a fracture of the left hip. She was hospitaliied from the date of the accident until October 15,1938, and all medical services were furnished by the respondent.

Upon her discharge from the hospital, claimant returned to her home in Lincoln. She walked wit6 crutches until January 15, 1939,’and with a cane until the middle of May, 1939. She returned to work on June 1, 1939, at a salary of $90.75 per month, the same salary she received for the year immediately preceding the injury.

Claimant received one month’s salary ‘while she was incapacitated. She is a widow with no children under sixteen years of age at the time of the injury.

Claimant and respondent, at the time of the accident, were operating under the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of this State, and notice of the accident and claim for compensation were made within the time provided by the Act. The accident arose out of and in the course of the employment.

The record discloses that -claimant suffered a frac- - ture to her left hip about five years prior to the injury [*56] of April 9, 1938. The record also contains a statement of the comparative degrees of functions of the various component parts of each inferior extremity of claimant as determined by two physicians on August 4, 1941. It is not possible, however, for the court to determine from the record what disability, if any, claimaiit may have as a result of the injury of April 9, 1938, and what disability, if any, she may have as a result of the earlier injury. Furthermore, claimant testified that since she has returned to work, her leg is improving, and that she is able to be on her feet as much as three-fourths of her working day. The record is insufficient to sustain an award for any permanent loss of use of claimant’s left leg.

Claimant, however, was totally disabled from Ap,ril 9, 1938, to June 1, 1939. She is therefore entitled to receive the sum of $10.47 per week for a period of fifty-nine and five-sevenths weeks, or the sum of $625.21.

An award is therefore entered in favor of the claimant in the amount of $625.21, all of’ which has accrued and is payable forthwith.