Aetna Life Insurance v. Industrial Accident Commission

In this petition for a writ of certiorari, the insurance carrier of an accident policy contends the award of the Industrial Accident Commission in favor of an injured employee of the insured person is unreasonable and illegal. It is asserted the average weekly wages of the laborer, which were accepted by the Commission as the basis for its award, are not estimated according to the rule prescribed by section 12 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

R. W. Billings, the claimant, was employed by the insured, Stokesberry Lumber and Wrecking Company, as a laborer at a wage of $4 a day. He was engaged in helping to wreck structures. His employment was not regular. He was paid a daily wage while the work lasted. He was not hired by the week or month or job. On the first day of his employment, March 18, 1932, a scaffold upon which he was working broke, causing him to fall to the ground, fracturing a rib and several vertebrae. A claim for compensation was duly presented. At the hearing it appeared he had been hired by the Stokesberry Company in the same character of work as a wrecker for three years. During the year previous to the time of his injury the claimant worked at wrecking buildings…