Burns's Case

The employee, a shoe laster, received an injury to his left hand. The little finger “is badly deformed with a right-angle ankylosis,” so that the finger is held diagonally over the palm of the hand, where it interferes with the ring finger and prevents the employee from properly holding a shoe.

The employee has been receiving compensation for disability and also specific compensation for the loss of use of the little finger. The insurer now insists that compensation should be discontinued on the ground that the employee has unreasonably refused to have the little finger removed, an operation…