Fitzen v. Cream Top Dairy

THOMAS, Justice.

Cream-Top Dairy operated a dairy near, but outside, the city limits of Pocatello, Idaho. Franklin Richard Fitzen entered into an oral agreement with the Dairy to dig a cesspool as a necessary part of the sanitary sewage- disposal system of the Dairy. While so engaged Fitzen encountered bad air and poisonous gas some 37 feet below the surface which seeped into the area below the shaft, overcoming him and causing his death, on August 7, 1951.

The dependents of decedent filed an appropriate claim for compensation benefits under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, I.C. § 72-101 et seq.…