F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Industrial Accident Commission

Petitioners seek by this writ of review to annul an award made by the respondent Industrial Accident Commission to one Alva Sivley.

Sivley had been employed by the Woolworth Company for a period of over three years as a stock clerk at its Post Street store in San Francisco. On the evening of November 21, 1939, Sivley and certain other employees worked overtime to decorate the store for the approaching holiday season. He was on duty from 8 o’clock in the morning until approximately 10:30 in the evening, with half an hour off for lunch and for dinner. Sivley had worked similar hours the preceding day, and he testified that his physical condition was under par from overwork and exhaustion.

During the evening Sivley was engaged in transporting material between the fifth floor and the ground floor of the building by means of a freight elevator at the rear of the store. At about 10:30, while unloading supplies on the fifth floor, he stopped his work to take the elevator down to the first floor in answer to a call. He testified that after unlocking a door to permit a fellow-employee to leave the building he started back to the fifth floor to complete his task of unloading material from…