Case Name: In the Matter of the Claim of Mart Finley, on Behalf of Herself and Minor Child, Appellant, against Higger Sign Company et al., Respondents. Workmen's Compensation Board, Respondent
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1956-12-20
Citations: 3 A.D.2d 617
Docket Number: 
Parties: In the Matter of the Claim of Mart Finley, on Behalf of Herself and Minor Child, Appellant, against Higger Sign Company et al., Respondents. Workmen’s Compensation Board, Respondent.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 3
Pages: 617–618

Head Matter:
In the Matter of the Claim of Mart Finley, on Behalf of Herself and Minor Child, Appellant, against Higger Sign Company et al., Respondents. Workmen’s Compensation Board, Respondent.

Opinion:
Appeal from a decision of the Workmen's Compensation Board. Claimant's husband was employed as a neon sign worker and on May 2, 1951 he fell from a ladder. He was sent to a hospital where he remained two days for treatment. The diagnosis was traumatic myositis of the left lumbar region and of the back of the neck. On June 24 he was readmitted to the hospital for a rectal condition. The history of this condition given at the hospital was that he had intermittent diarrhea for a year, bloody stools, and that he had undergone a loss of 30 pounds in weight in the previous few months. The diagnosis was adenocarcinoma of the rectum. Operative exploration showed extensive spread of this disease and he died August 17. There is medical opinion of association between the fall and the development of the carcinoma; but there is other medical opinion that the disease was not and could not have been adversely affected by a fall of the kind described, or by the trauma resulting from such a fall. The board's decision on an issue of fact of this sort is final if there is substantial evidence to support it and we are of opinion that such supporting evidence in this case is substantial. Decision affirmed, without costs. Foster, P. J., Bergan, Coon and Gibson, JJ., concur.