Claim of De Voe v. New York State Railways

169 A.D. 472, 155 N.Y.S. 12, 1915 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9673
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedSeptember 15, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 169 A.D. 472 (Claim of De Voe v. New York State Railways) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Claim of De Voe v. New York State Railways, 169 A.D. 472, 155 N.Y.S. 12, 1915 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9673 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1915).

Opinions

Woodward, J.:

While the evidence before the Commission that the deceased was on his way to have his watch inspected, under the provisions of the employer’s rule, is meagre and uncertain, we will assume the facts, for the purposes of this appeal, to be as found by the Commission. The findings are that “ at the time of receiving the injuries resulting in his death Edward De Voe resided at Mohawk, Herkimer county, State of New York, and was employed as a motorman by the New York State Railways, a street railway corporation'.

“2. On September 12th, 1914, at about 4:50 p. M., and after deceased had finished his work for the day, and as deceased was hurrying from the car barn at Mohawk to catch a car of the New York State Railways, which was just coming to a stop before the car barn, deceased was struck by an automobile running near the curb, receiving injuries from which he died three days later. The purpose of the deceased in taking or attempting to take a car was to proceed to Herkimer to have his watch tested. It was understood when employees were hired that they should have free transportation on the cars of the company. It was a rule of the company (employer) that the men must have their watches tested once in every two weeks under penalty of [474]*474loss of one day. The employees were not paid for the time which they consumed in the period of testing watches or of going to and from the place where the test might be made. The person who made the tests was designated and paid by the employer.

“ 3. The injury received by the deceased was an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment and resulted in his death,” etc.

The conclusion of law is reached that the “claim comes within the provisions of chapter 67 of the Consolidated Laws, being chapter '816 of the Laws of 1913, as re-enacted and amended by chapter 41 of the Laws of 1914, and amended by chapter 316 of the Laws of 1914, known as the Workmen’s Compensation Law.”

The employer, which is its own insurance carrier, appeals from the award, and, while contending that the facts found are not supported by the evidence, in so far as they relate to the deceased’s intention in running to the car, urges that the conclusion of law is erroneous. This, it seems to us, is the only question requiring consideration. Is the claim within the provisions of the statute ? The conclusion of fact, which is a mixed question of law and fact, that “the injury received by the deceased was an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment and resulted in his death,” is not conclusive upon this point. While the statute is of a remedial character, and is to have a liberal construction, no doubt, for the purpose for which it is designed, it is not to be extended by implication to accidents not clearly within the language of the act. It is true, of course, that section 10 of the act provides that “ every employer subject to the provisions of this chapter shall' pay or provide as required by this chapter compensation according to the schedules of this article for the disability or death of his employee resulting from an accidental personal injury sustained by the employee arising out of and in the course of his employment, without regard to fault as a cause of such injury,” but this is not the controlling provision of the act. The Legislature has not attempted to impose upon employers the. obligation of insuring their employees generally against accident. The language of section 2 of the act, which is the controlling section, declares [475]*475that the ££ compensation provided for in this chapter shall be payable for injuries sustained or death incurred by employees engaged in the following hazardous employments.” It covers, not employees generally, even of the particular groups, but ££ employees engaged in the following hazardous employments,” and among these are ££G-roup 1,” which is ££ the operation, including construction and repair, of railways operated by steam, electric or other motive power, street railways, and incline railways, but not their construction when constructed by any person other than the company which owns or operates the railway, including work of express, sleeping, parlor and dining car employees on rad way trains. ” The insurance is not of the employee while engaged in the service of the master in employments other than hazardous; the employee of a street railway, for instance, who is engaged in bookkeeping, or in running errands or doing other work disconnected with the physical operation of the railroad, would not be 1 £ engaged in the following hazardous employments, ” nor would he be entitled to compensation, though the accident might be said to have arisen ££out of and in the course of his employment.” The question is, not whether he was employed by a street railroad corporation, but whether he was “ engaged in the following hazardous employments. ” If he was not engaged in “the operation * * * of railways operated by steam, electric or other motive power, street railways,” etc., he is not within the letter or the spirit of the statute, even though his employer be a street railway corporation and he is injured while in that employment. The crucial question at all times is whether he is engaged in the hazardous employments mentioned in the statute, for it was only as to these that the Legislature has required the employer to provide compensation. That we are right in this is evidenced by the definitions to be found in section 3 of the act. cc Hazardous employment ” is defined to be ££ a work or occupation described in section two of this chapter ” and the group to which the deceased belonged included only the operation of the street railway. It covered his employment while ££engaged” in the work of a motorman in the operation of the street railroad, but when he ceased to be engaged in the hazardous employment [476]*476and went out into the highway for the purpose of becoming a passenger in one of the employer’s cars, the latter owed him no duty of insurance, any more than it owed it to any other citizen lawfully using the highway.

Assuming that the deceased was about to go to have his watch tested, and that he was still in the employ of the corporation for that purpose, the occupation was not of a hazardous nature as defined by the statute, or as understood in the common experiences of mankind. The statute was intended to protect the motorman and the conductor and the men engaged in the physical operation of an essentially hazardous employment, while engaged in such employment, and when the person. employed ceased to be engaged in the hazardous employment he came within the ordinary operation of law. It is conceded here that he had closed his day’s work and had signed his name to the register denoting that fact, and had reached a point in the public highway where he was run down, not by any street railroad car, or by anything over which the employer had control, but by an automobile in the control, presumably, of some third person. He was not, therefore, in the employ of the New York State Railways within the language or intent of the statute. An “ employee ” is defined by subdivision 4 of section 3 of the act as “ a person who.

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Bluebook (online)
169 A.D. 472, 155 N.Y.S. 12, 1915 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/claim-of-de-voe-v-new-york-state-railways-nyappdiv-1915.