Matthews v. R.T. Allen & Sons, Inc.

Arthur Matthews (plaintiff) was a woodworker employed by R.T. Allen & Sons, Inc. (Allen) (defendant) to load heavy sticks of pulpwood onto Allen’s trucks. Loading the wood required Matthews to bend and straighten his back repeatedly. On November 13, 1967, Matthews felt pain in his back after loading wood for approximately three hours. Matthews’s back pain intensified during his lunch break, but he loaded more wood after lunch for roughly another hour before the pain became so great that he could not continue working. Matthews’s back pain continued to increase, and he was admitted to the hospital and eventually underwent surgery to remove a herniated disc. Matthews’s doctors did not opine about what initially caused Matthews’s back injury. However, Matthews’s orthopedic surgeon stated that it was unfortunate that Matthews had continued to work after his pain developed. Matthews sought workers’-compensation benefits, but an industrial-accident commissioner denied Matthews’s claim. The commissioner found that Matthews’s herniated disc had developed prior to November 13, 1967, and that Matthews had not experienced a singular disabling incident on that day. The commissioner thus concluded that Matthews had not suffered a personal injury by accident that arose out of and in the course of his employment, as required to recover benefits under Maine’s workers’-compensation statute. The Maine Supreme Court reviewed the commissioner’s decision.