Opinion
December 29, 1961
Present — Bergan, P.J., Coon, Herlihy, Reynolds and Taylor, JJ.
This is an appeal by the claimant from a decision of the Workmen's Compensation Board which disallowed his claim on the ground there was no causal relationship between the injury and enucleation of his eye. The claimant, while performing his work on May 3, 1954, had a particle of sawdust enter under his eyelid. He testified that he rubbed his eye for quite a bit of time and eventually went to a doctor to have the foreign substance removed. The doctor in turn sent him to an eye specialist who testified at the hearing that because of the diseased condition, the eye had to be removed. The operation was subsequently performed and the claimant now seeks compensation for the lost eye. It was established that the claimant for a long time prior to May 3, 1954, had suffered from a chronic disease of the eye which resulted from an accident in 1932. The Referee found no causal relationship between the enucleation of the eye and the alleged injury and this finding was thereafter affirmed by the board. Several years subsequent, upon application by the claimant's attorney, the case was restored to the calendar to allow additional medical testimony in support of the claimant's contention and again the board, after reviewing the entire record, found no causal relationship and disallowed the claim. A careful reading of the present record demonstrates a difference of opinion among the doctors who testified as to whether or not the alleged accident had any relation to the enucleation and the board had the right to decide which version of the factual issue it would accept. Decision unanimously affirmed, without costs.