Slaten v. Travelers Insurance Company

Duckworth, Justice.

The purpose of the workmen’s compensation act (Code, title 114) was to substitute a method of accident insurance in the place of the common-law rights and liabilities for substantially all employees. It is a humanitarian measure enacted to avoid the evils which actions for torts had entailed. Under the old law the injured employee could recover from the employer damages only by proving that the employer was at fault; and the procedure for obtaining this relief was attended with protracted litigation, thus preventing the employee and his dependents from receiving financial…