Case Name: WALKER D. HINES, Director-General of Railroads, etc., Petitioner, v. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT COMMISSION, etc., et al., Respondents
Court: Supreme Court of California
Jurisdiction: California
Decision Date: 1920-03-04
Citations: 182 Cal. 359
Docket Number: S. F. No. 9384
Parties: WALKER D. HINES, Director-General of Railroads, etc., Petitioner, v. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT COMMISSION, etc., et al., Respondents.
Judges: 
Reporter: California Reports
Volume: 182
Pages: 359–359

Head Matter:
S. F. No. 9384.
In Bank.
March 4, 1920.
WALKER D. HINES, Director-General of Railroads, etc., Petitioner, v. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT COMMISSION, etc., et al., Respondents.
Workmen’s Compensation Act—Injury Producing Hernia—Predisposition op Employee to Disease—Prerelease op Liability— "Void Agreement.—In view of section 27a of the Workmen’s Compensation, Insurance and Safety Act of 1917, which provides that no contract, rule, or regulation shall exempt the employer from liability for the compensation fixed by the act, an employer, upon an application by an employee for compensation for a hernia sustained in the course of his employment, cannot avail itself of an agreement required to be executed by the employee prior to his employment and after discovery of predisposition to hernia, whereby the employer was released from all claims on account of a hernia appearing during the term of the employment.
APPLICATION for a Writ of Certiorari to review an award of the Industrial Accident Commission.
Denied.
The applicant for compensation prior to his employment was physically examined and found to have lax inguinal rings predisposing him to hernia, and thereupon was required to execute an agreement releasing his employer from all claims that might arise on account of hernia appearing while in service. During the course of his employment he sustained a left inguinal hernia and upon application for compensation the employer relied upon the release.
Henley C. Booth for Petitioner.
A. E. Graupner for Respondent.

Opinion:
THE COURT.
—We are satisfied that in view of the provisions of section 27a of the Workmen's Compensation, Insurance and Safety Act of 1917 (Stats. 1917, p. 855), petitioner cannot avail himself of the agreement relied on.
The application for a writ of review is denied.
Angellotti, C. J., Lawlor, J., Olney, J., Wilbur, J., Shaw, J., and Lennon, J., concurred.