Colburn v. Department of Labor & Industries

390 P.2d 10, 63 Wash. 2d 965, 1964 Wash. LEXIS 570
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 12, 1964
DocketNo. 36794
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 390 P.2d 10 (Colburn v. Department of Labor & Industries) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Colburn v. Department of Labor & Industries, 390 P.2d 10, 63 Wash. 2d 965, 1964 Wash. LEXIS 570 (Wash. 1964).

Opinion

Donworth, J.

This is an appeal by the Department of Labor and Industries from a judgment of the superior court which reversed a decision of the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and ordered the department to allow a claim filed by respondent.

[966]*966The essential facts are not in dispute.

Washington Monumental Company, a corporation, respondent’s employer, is engaged in the business of selling monuments, markers, stone, and marble in Spokane. Respondent, being a salesman, had no prescribed hours during which he was required to be on the premises of his employer or in which he would attempt to make sales. The only requirement of employment was that he handled his territory properly. He worked out of his home, as well as the company office, in a territory including the city of Spokane and the Spokane Valley. As long as he handled that territory satisfactorily, he could make sales at any time. If he happened to be in the city, he usually went to the company office “to see if there was anything in the basket.” At the time of the accident, he was selling granite on a commission basis for the company. He had been so employed for about 9 years. His sales had, for some time prior to the accident, been restricted to granite as opposed to the sale of marble. Respondent would receive no commission for on-the-premise sales of marble, whereas a sale of granite made there would result in a commission.

The company also employs three to four workmen on an hourly, semi-monthly, or monthly basis. These employees work in a workshop where marble is fabricated, cut, and polished. They occasionally engage in the sale of marble on the premises if the president of the company or other salesmen are not available, but the sale of marble is not their primary duty.

These workmen are within the compulsory coverage of the Industrial Insurance Act because they work in a workshop wherein power-driven machinery is employed, to wit, an air compressor, polishing machine, stone saw, sandblast machine and other small machines. See RCW 51.12.010 and RCW 51.08.190. They are classified for the purpose of fixing premium rates as stonecutters and marble setters under RCW chapter 51.12. No premiums were ever paid by the employer with respect to respondent.

August 8, 1960, respondent was in the office of the company. A woman customer entered and desired to be shown [967]*967some marble. In the office at that time were respondent and a stenographer. The president of the company, who would normally show marble, was absent. Respondent went into the workshop where two stonecutters were working to find someone to show marble to the customer. One of the workmen, who sometimes sold marble, told respondent that he was cutting stone and would be busy for 15 or 20 minutes. Respondent then proceeded to show the customer marble by taking her out into the company yard where it was stored. While showing various pieces of marble to the customer, a slab of it fell on respondent, fracturing his left leg in two places.

Thereafter, respondent filed an industrial insurance claim, which was rejected December 12, 1960, by the Supervisor of Industrial Insurance, for the reason that respondent was not under the Industrial Insurance Act at the time of his injury. Respondent filed a notice of appeal with the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals.

February 16, 1962, pursuant to the provisions of RCW 51.52.095, respondent presented a written agreement to the board. This agreement, signed by respondent and his employer, stated that the board could grant the claim if it was found to be in accordance with the law and the facts. A hearing before the board was set.

A hearing was held September 26, 1961, to determine the law and the facts, and was continued from time to time. April 9, 1962, the board filed a 21-page decision in which many decisions of this court bearing on the problem were thoroughly analyzed. Attached to its decision are findings of fact, conclusions of law, and its order. This order sustained the rejection of the claim by the supervisor. An appeal was taken to the superior court.

The superior court, sitting without a jury, considered the board record as all of the evidence in the case, and, after rendering an oral opinion, entered judgment reversing the board’s order and remanding the claim to the department with instructions that it be allowed. The Department of Labor and Industries has appealed to this court from that judgment.

[968]*968•' The sole issue to be decided by us is whether respondent, by the nature of his activity at the time he was injured (selling marble), was engaged in extrahazardous work so as to bring him within the compulsory provisions of the Industrial Insurance Act.

Appellant’s first assignment of error is to the trial court’s finding of fact No. 2.1 We agree with appellant that the record before this court does not support the finding that respondent was, at the time of his injury, performing work usually done by marble setters.

The board’s finding of fact on this issue reads as follows:

“Showing marble to customers coming into the company’s office was not one of the claimant’s duties and he was not compensated therefor. The president of the company, Byron L. Swanson, normally showed marble and stone to customers who came into the office, but it was customary in his absence, for anyone available in the office or the shop to take care of such customers and, the claimant quite frequently showed marble- to customers.”

Appellant’s other two assignments of error are directed to the trial court’s conclusion of law No. I2 and to the entry of judgment, because the law and the facts do not support such a result.

Respondent urges that the trial court’s judgment should be affirmed on the basis of the following argument:

Since the employer’s workmen who were covered by the act would have received compensation for injuries sustained while showing marble to a prospective customer, [969]*969respondent, who was not covered by the act with regard to his work as a salesman, should receive compensation under the act because he was performing precisely the same service for the employer as the workmen would have performed when showing marble.

It seems to us that this is a pure non sequitur as the principal cases cited by respondent demonstrate.

In Wendt v. Industrial Ins. Comm., 80 Wash. 111, 141 Pac. 311 (1914), a carpenter continuously employed by a department store was killed while turning on an electric switch in the repair shop to operate some power-driven machinery. This court interpreted the Industrial Insurance Act (as it then existed) as covering the carpenter’s employment. We there said, at p. 116:

“. . .

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bowen v. Department of Labor & Industries
477 P.2d 654 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
390 P.2d 10, 63 Wash. 2d 965, 1964 Wash. LEXIS 570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colburn-v-department-of-labor-industries-wash-1964.