Estep v. Blackwood Fuel Co.

Simon Estep, a coal miner, employed by Blackwood Fuel Company, Incorporated, filed with the Industrial Commission a claim for compensation, alleging that he had lost the vision of his left eye by reason of its exposure to the brilliant light or “flash” occasioned by an electric welder which he was using about his employer’s business. Both the hearing commissioner and the full Commission disallowed the claim, on the ground that the preponderance of the evidence showed that the claimant’s impaired vision was due to natural causes—a diseased condition of the eye—and not to the alleged accident.…