Rockwell International v. Commonwealth

Opinion by

Judge Craig,

In this workmen’s compensation appeal, the employer1 questions an order by the Workmen’s Com*119pensation Appeal Board affirming a referee’s decision to award compensation to claimant, a laborer, for total disability.

Claimant had been a general maintenance employee, but faced with a layoff, he exercised his seniority rights and “bumped into” a laborer position, in which his primary duty was to clean cement floors with a heavy buffing machine. The claimant’s testimony was that the machine’s operation forced him to sway from side to side, and, while operating it on a date…