Voris v. Eikel

Background

A longshoreman, Earl Porter, was hurt on December 19, 1949, while working in the hold of the S.S. Southern States when a flash fire and a falling beam injured his back and shoulder. He was carried to a car and driven home by his walking foreman, Ernest Wisby, and several fellow workers saw the injury. No written notice was given to the employer for six months. The Deputy Commissioner found the injury permanent and awarded benefits. A federal district court and the Court of Appeals later overturned that award.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the employer had the kind of notice the law requires when the injured worker and his foreman followed the employer’s normal on-the-job reporting routine but did not give written notice. The Court found substantial evidence that the walking foreman and the timekeeper knew of the injury and that the worker had followed the employer’s usual reporting practice. The Court held the Deputy Commissioner properly concluded the employer had notice under the statute and that the award should stand. The Court stressed that the Act should be read broadly to carry out its protective purpose and that failures of supervisors to report should not be blamed on the injured worker who followed routine practice.

Real world impact

The decision means workers who follow employer-prescribed reporting routines are less likely to lose compensation for missing a formal written notice when the employer or its agents knew about the injury. The case returns the matter for any necessary further proceedings consistent with this ruling, and does not decide payment details like exact compensation rates.