Clarke

Briefly, the facts appear to be that an employee of petitioners was killed by a slide of earth on a cut on a hillside at a point where the employee was engaged in shoveling soil from a trench preparatory to the construction of a retaining wall.

At the hearing of the application by the widow of the employee for compensation arising from his death, among other things, the respondent Commission found: “Said injury was caused by reason of the serious and wilful misconduct of the employers and/or their managing representative. The applicant is entitled to have the amount of compensation otherwise recoverable for said injury, increased one-half. ’ ’

Petitioners contend, first, that there was no evidence to support such finding, and consequently that the respondent Commission acted in excess of its powers.

The following facts were in evidence: That petitioners herein were general contractors, who at the time of the accident were engaged in the preliminary work incident to the construction of a ten-foot reinforced concrete wall which was proposed to be built as a retaining wall against or adjacent to a cut which had been made on the side of a hill. In the preparation for the…