Opinion
43399.
ARGUED FEBRUARY 6, 1968.
DECIDED MARCH 11, 1968. REHEARING DENIED MARCH 28, 1968.
Workmen's compensation. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Etheridge.
Greene, Buckley, DeRieux, Moore Jones, Burt DeRieux, Raymond H. Vizethann, Jr., for appellants.
George George, William V. George, for appellee.
1. The parties in this workmen's compensation case entered into an agreement for the payment of compensation for total incapacity to labor. This agreement was approved by the board. The parties also entered into a supplemental agreement, which was approved by the board, purporting to terminate the employer's liability. As the latter agreement failed to stipulate facts sufficient to show a change in the claimant's condition, it was ineffective to change the compensation payable under the original agreement. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hamilton, 112 Ga. App. 452 ( 145 S.E.2d 645); Taylor v. Sunnyland Packing Co., 112 Ga. App. 544, 546 ( 145 S.E.2d 587); Simpson v. Travelers Ins. Co., 117 Ga. App. 43, 45 ( 159 S.E.2d 294).
2. Although it was the claimant who applied for a hearing to determine a change in condition, the burden was on the employer to show that the claimant was no longer totally incapacitated as appeared from the original approved agreement. Employers Liab. Assur. Corp. v. Whitlock, 111 Ga. App. 440, 442 ( 142 S.E.2d 77).
3. The employer argues that the evidence demanded a finding that the claimant's condition had changed from general incapacity to loss of use of a specific member and thus the disability was compensable under Code Ann. § 114-406 (o) providing for the loss of use of a leg, rather than under Code Ann. § 114-404 providing for incapacity to work. The evidence showed that claimant, a stock clerk in a grocery store, was injured when a stack of cases of canned goods fell on him, causing a back sprain and twisting his left leg. The injury aggravated a congenital degenerative defect of the left femur, which required surgery on claimant's hip. Aggravation of the pre-existing infirmity resulted in permanent disablement of the hip. Where an employee suffers an injury involving a specific member which also affects other portions of the body and results in an incapacity to labor, he is entitled to compensation for the general disability. Armour Co. v. Walker, 99 Ga. App. 64, 65 ( 107 S.E.2d 691). Cf., Gulf American Fire c. Co. v. Herndon, 113 Ga. App. 678 ( 149 S.E.2d 404). The evidence here, showing that the injury resulted in an incapacity of claimant's hip, authorized an award of compensation for general disability under Code Ann. § 114-404. National Surety Corp. v. Martin, 86 Ga. App. 77, 79 ( 71 S.E.2d 666). The superior court did not err in affirming the award.
Judgment affirmed. Hall and Quillian, JJ., concur.