ABSTRACT
A disabled cotton mill worker went before the North Carolina workers’ compensation board in 1936. He told officials that his respiratory problems and fever resulted from the dust in the mill where he worked, and that his health problems were so bad that he could no longer work in the plant. A physician testifying at the hearing stated that he had treated 25 to 30 workers for the same ailment. The worker submitted to examinations by doctors and to x-rays. Nevertheless, the board denied his claim when the tests revealed no evidence of either silicosis or asbestosis, the only dust-related diseases for which the law allowed compensation at the time.
