Aetna Casualty and Surety Company v. Hughes

This is a workmen’s compensation case in which an employee, Richard Hughes, was injured in the course of his employment with Bay City Drilling Company on July 12, 1963, while operating a tractor with a mowing device referred to as a “brush hog.” Hughes fell from the tractor when it hit a rut. The tractor wheels and then the “brush hog” passed over his body, the force of the impact finally stalling the “brush hog” and pinning him underneath it.

The seriousness of the resulting injuries is evident from the following recitation: Part of the ankle bone on his left leg was shaved away by the “brush…