Harrison v. Industrial Commission

ELLETT, Chief Justice:

The plaintiff, as surviving widow of William G. Harrison, appeals from a decision of the Industrial Commission denying her claim for benefits as a dependent of her deceased husband.

William G. Harrison had been a uranium miner since 1945. On August 29, 1975, he filed an occupational disease claim alleging disability as a result of silicosis and cancer caused by prolonged exposure to “rock dust and diesel smoke.” Before Mr. Harrison could undergo medical examination, he died November 6, 1975.

Mr. Harrison had been a smoker since the age of fourteen, at a rate of from one to…