Besch v. Village of Arden Hills

115 N.W.2d 338, 262 Minn. 527, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 738
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMay 18, 1962
DocketNo. 38,482
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 115 N.W.2d 338 (Besch v. Village of Arden Hills) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Besch v. Village of Arden Hills, 115 N.W.2d 338, 262 Minn. 527, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 738 (Mich. 1962).

Opinions

Murphy, Justice.

This case is before us on certiorari to review an order of the Indus[528]*528trial Commission reversing the finding of the referee and awarding to respondent Joseph J. Besch, who will hereinafter be referred to as the petitioner, workmen’s compensation benefits against relators, the village of Arden Hills and its insurer, Insurance Company of North America. The claim for benefits asserted that at the time of petitioner’s injuries the village of Arden Hills, the county of Ramsey, and the city of St. Paul were his employers. The issue for us to decide is which of the employers named is responsible for workmen’s compensation. The answer turns upon an interpretation of Minn. St. 176.011, subd. 9, which makes provision for workmen’s compensation for voluntary uncompensated workers engaged in peace time in the civil defense program.

From the record it appears that the petitioner was injured while directing traffic in the city of St. Paul while an American Legion parade was in progress. The petitioner is a resident of the village of Arden Hills and a member of the Arden Hills Civil Defense unit. On August 5, 1959, Kermit Hedman, sheriff of Ramsey County and director of the Ramsey County Civil Defense, addressed a communication to the Arden Hills Civil Defense groups requesting that they report for “Police Duty” in connection with an American Legion parade to be held in St. Paul on August 25, 1959. They were requested to report “for duty to Les Juehrs, Chief, RCCD Police or Dep. Chiefs John Longville, Oren Hobbs or Deloy Christopherson at Parade Assembly area below State Capitol” at 6:30 p. m. on the day in question. Other civil defense units in Ramsey County were also requested to take part. Thereafter the petitioner was contacted by Melvan Fish, who was on the telephone committee of the group. The petitioner agreed to participate. On August 25, 1959, eight members of the group, including the director, met at an Arden Hills school. Each of them drove to the school individually but left together for St. Paul. No instructions were given to the members of this group before departing for St. Paul.

When the Arden Hills group arrived at the parade headquarters on the Capitol Approach, they presented themselves to Les Juehrs of the Ramsey County Civil Defense. Mr. Juehrs referred the group to a deputy chief of the Ramsey County unit, who directed the men to [529]*529their posts and advised them of their duties. The plan for assembling and routing the parade was prepared by representatives of the city of St. Paul and the Ramsey County Civil Defense office. The Arden Hills group was not consulted nor did it participate in formulating these plans. It appears that the work involved in the organization and policing of the parade was divided into two sections. The Ramsey County Civil Defense officials were in charge of the assembly area, and the St. Paul officials were responsible for the control of traffic on the parade route.

Petitioner was assigned to the assembly area controlled by the Ramsey County officials. He was placed at an intersection and instructed to divert traffic from entering the assembly area. While stationed at this point he assisted the St. Paul police for a short time in setting up a barricade at one of the intersecting streets, after which he returned to his post of duty. Shortly thereafter the petitioner and another volunteer with whom he was working observed that cars were moving around the barricade, causing a traffic jam. To correct this situation they moved to the intersection below the barricade and began directing traffic. This was on the boundary line of the assembly area. There is no direct evidence as to whether this activity was for the purpose of keeping traffic out of the assembly area or the parade route. In any event, while directing traffic the petitioner was injured, causing the disability for which he seeks compensation.

The village of Arden Hills and its insurer, the Insurance Company of North America, agreed to pay compensation benefits to petitioner .subject to the determination of the Industrial Commission as to the employer at the time the accident occurred. The referee held that the petitioner was an employee of the county of Ramsey at the time of the accident. On appeal to the Industrial Commission, the commission adopted the findings of the referee to the effect that the petitioner became temporarily totally disabled for a period of 27 weeks and sustained permanent partial disability as a result of the accident but held that the injuries sustained arose out of and in the course of employment by the village of Arden Hills. It concluded that, since service or training duty under the Minnesota Civil Defense Act might take a volunteer from one political subdivision to another, the munici[530]*530pal unit to which the volunteer is attached retains control over him wherever he may be engaged in civil defense work. It stated that, .in the absence of more specific legislation, a contrary holding could lead to “nothing but lengthy litigations.”

Because of the unusual character of the employment, some reference should be made to the provisions of law which give to the volunteer civil defense worker the status of an employee entitled to workmen’s compensation benefits. The Minnesota Civil Defense Act of 1951 (Minn. St. c. 12) contains broad provisions relating to the preservation of lives and property by volunteer civil defense units throughout the state in the event of “enemy attack, sabotage, or other hostile action, or from fire, flood, earthquake or other natural causes, * * * and generally to provide for the common defense and to protect the public peace, * * § 12.02, subd. 1. Section 12.25 provides that each political subdivision of the state is authorized to establish a civil defense organization under a director to be appointed by and subject to the control of the municipal authority. It is contemplated that each local organization shall perform its functions within the territorial limits of the political subdivision within which it is organized. Provision is also made for the establishment of a county civil defense organization which has jurisdiction, so far as applicable here, to coordinate “the activities of and may assist in the training of civil defense organizations” within the county. Recognizing that the civil defense work is wholly voluntary and that provisions should be made for compensation of those sustaining injuries by reason of participation in such work, the legislature adopted § 176.011, subd. 9, which provides in part:

“Voluntary uncompensated workers engaged in peace time in the civil defense program when ordered to training or other duty by the state or any political subdivision thereof, shall be employees. The daily wage of the worker for the purpose of calculating compensation payable under this chapter, shall be the usual going wage paid at the time of such injury or death for similar services where such services are performed by paid employees.”

There is no dispute as to the petitioner’s status as an employee. [531]*531It is agreed by all parties that the employee is entitled to workmen’s compensation under the provisions of the foregoing statute. The dispute arises as to which unit of government was his employer at the time the accident occurred.1 The village contends that either the city or county or both were employers responsible for compensation benefits.

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Related

Dobosenski v. Carlton County
157 N.W.2d 847 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
115 N.W.2d 338, 262 Minn. 527, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/besch-v-village-of-arden-hills-minn-1962.