Sassano v. Paino

Headnote

Matter of Sassano v. Paino, 186 App. Div. 927 , affirmed.

Appeal from an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the third judicial department, entered November 25, 1918, affirming an award of the state industrial commission made under the Workmen’s Compensation Law. The employer was a sewer contractor. The deceased employee was a timberman, whose duty was to brace the trenches. At the time of the accident the work for the day was over, but the injured man was detained by the employer to unload some material. Some sections of concrete sewer pipe were delivered by a driver named Montgomery, in the employ of the Lock-Joint Pipe Company. Some of this pipe was broken and the employer desired Montgomery to return a broken section. The employer asked him to sign a receipt for this section and Montgomery demanded a receipt for two new sections without regard to the section which he was willing to take back. The employer refused to sign such a receipt, which refusal led to a fight and the driver, Montgomery, threw a brick at the employer and his men came to his assistance and also threw bricks. The deceased employee was hit in the skull by a brick and his skull fractured, as a result of .which he died. Appellants contended that the injuries did not arise out of and in the course of the employment.