Matthews v. Naylor

TUTTLE, J.-

-Petitioner seeks to review and annul an order

of the Industrial Accident Commission denying him compensation on a finding that injuries sustained by him did not arise out of, and in the course of his employment.

There were two hearings held by respondent commission. The first terminated in a denial of any relief to petitioner upon the ground that the claim was barred by the statute of limitations. A rehearing was granted, and the second trial also resulted in the denial of any relief, upon the ground that the evidence failed to show that petitioner was injured in the course of his employment. That is the sole issue before us here. If there is any substantial evidence to support the finding of the commission, the award must be upheld. At the second hearing it was stipulated that all the evidence introduced at the first hearing might be considered as a part of the record in the ease.

There is no substantial conflict in the evidence, and respondents do not so contend. They insist, however, that from all the evidence adduced they were justified in inferring and finding that the injury did not arise out of the employment of petitioner.

On or about December 3, 1937, petitioner started out from Etna for San Francisco, by way of Healdsburg. He used his own automobile, and drove down Highway 99, which is admittedly, as the record shows, the usual and most direct route from Etna to San Francisco. While he was between the cities of Redding and Anderson, his ear collided with a truck. As a result he suffered a fracture of the right hip and multiple

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contusions. He was confined to a hospital for twenty-one weeks, and his expenses in that connection were $458.95. His doctor bill was $552.50. The commission held that the trip upon which he started was a personal mission, hence not compensable. Petitioner contends that he was, in making the trip, on the business of his employer, hence the injury arose out of his employment and he was therefore entitled to compensation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. (Division IV of the Labor Code.)

It now becomes necessary to look at the evidence bearing upon the purpose and object of the trip. For a number of years petitioner was employed by respondent Naylor, at the town of Etna, Siskiyou County, as a mechanic. Around Thanksgiving Day, 1937, he told his employer that he wished to visit relatives in the city of Healdsburg, Sonoma County. Respondent Naylor gave the following testimony in respect to his reply to that request: