Kuhn v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 270 Pa. 474
• 113 A. 672
• 1921 Pa. LEXIS 418

Syllabus

<p>Worlcmen’s compensation—Railroads—Course of employment— Estoppel—Referee—Findings of facts—Agreement of settlement—■ Knowledge of facts.</p> <p>1. A railroad company which defeats an action of negligence brought against it by the widow of a deceased employee, solely on the ground that the case is one for the Workmen’s Compensation Board, will not be permitted thereafter to assert, in a hearing under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, that decedent was not in the course of his employment at the time of his death.</p> <p>2. The Workmen’s Compensation Board has jurisdiction to allow compensation for an injury or death only where they occurred in the course of an employment, and hence an averment that it alone has jurisdiction to allow compensation therefor, necessarily affirms the injury arose in the course of the employment,</p> <p>3. Findings of fact by a referee which are approved by the board and are not excepted to, must be taken as true.</p> <p>4. An agreement of settlement made in good faith is not legally invalid simply because one of the parties entered into it without a full knowledge of the facts, especially if the other party has acted thereon before there is an attempt to rescind it.</p>