Interstate Power Co. v. Industrial Commission

234 N.W. 889, 203 Wis. 466, 1931 Wisc. LEXIS 257
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 10, 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 234 N.W. 889 (Interstate Power Co. v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Interstate Power Co. v. Industrial Commission, 234 N.W. 889, 203 Wis. 466, 1931 Wisc. LEXIS 257 (Wis. 1931).

Opinion

Wickhem, J.

It is the contention of the appellant that the contract between Oehler and the Interstate Power Company was governed exclusively by the compensation act of Iowa, where the contract of employment was made. The case presents substantially the converse of the situations heretofore considered in Anderson v. Miller Scrap Iron Co. 169 Wis. 106, 170 N. W. 275, 171 N. W. 935; Zurich G. A. & L. Ins. Co. v. Industrial Comm. 193 Wis. 32, 213 N. W. 630; Wandersee v. Industrial Comm. 198 Wis. 345, 223 N. W. 837; and Val Blatz Brewing Co. v. Industrial Comm. 201 Wis. 474, 230 N. W. 622. In all of these cases this cdurt considered the jurisdiction of the commission to enter an award in situations where the injury occurred outside the state of Wisconsin. A review of these [470]*470cases is essential to an understanding of the problem presented here.

In Anderson v. Miller Scrap Iron Co., supra, the defendant was a Wisconsin corporation, having its principal place of business in Green Bay; The injured person was a resident of Wisconsin and an employee of the defendant company. The business of the company was carried on almost entirely within the state of Wisconsin. Nearly all of the injured person’s services had been rendered in this state. The accident occurred in Michigan. It was held that the plaintiff’s contention that, since the injury had occurred within the state of Michigan, the rights of the parties must be determined in accordance with the laws of Michigan, and that the Wisconsin workmen’s compensation act could not affect the liabilities of the defendant company because it could not have any extraterritorial effect, was invalid. It was held that the liability of the employer under the act was not tortious, nor strictly contractual in the sense that it should be treated as a covenant. It was held that the act enters into and becomes a part of every contract to the extent that the law of the land is a part of every contract. It was stated that every contract is to be enforced and interpreted in accordance with the law of the place where it is made, and that the rights and liabilities of the parties thereto are to be determined in accordance with that law. The court held that principles which are applicable to actions ex delicto should therefore not apply to claims arising under the workmen’s compensation act.

In Zurich G. A. & L. Ins. Co. v. Industrial Comm., supra, the employer was a Wisconsin corporation. In January, 1925, it commenced the construction of a bridge in Texas. It was expected that the Texas job would be completed in about four months. The deceased was a resident of Wis[471]*471consin, the president of the company, but was held to be an employee for the purpose of this construction work, which he supervised. He was killed in Texas. The court held that the Wisconsin act applied, and stated that this holding depended on the fact that his employment was pursuant to a Wisconsin contract.

In Wandersee v. Industrial Comm. 198 Wis. 345, 223 N. W. 837, the employer was a resident of Chippewa Falls, and was under the workmen’s compensation act. The employee was a resident of Minnesota. In November, 1926, the employee was hired by the employer to buy hides in Minnesota and South Dakota. The contract was made in Wisconsin. He covered his territory with an automobile furnished by the employer. In 1927, while driving in Minnesota, in the course of his employment, one of his feet was frozen. The question presented was whether the Wisconsin workmen’s compensation act applied to services rendered in another state, pursuant to- a contract made in this state, no service having been rendered in this state under such contract. The court denied compensation on the ground that the employee had performed no services in Wisconsin.

In Val Blatz Brewing Co. v. Industrial Comm., supra, the Val Blatz Brewing Co., doing business in Milwaukee, entered into a contract in Wisconsin with the deceased husband of Alma Gerard, to sell its products in Missouri and Arkansas. The deceased was killed in an automobile accident at Fort Smith, Ark., having gone there to call on the trade for his employer. It was held that the deceased came under the provisions of the Wisconsin compensation act, provided his residence in Wisconsin be established. It was held that where residents of Wisconsin enter into a contract of employment in Wisconsin, a constructive status of employer and employee is created in Wisconsin, and that the [472]*472Wisconsin act applies, no matter where the injury occurs, so long as this status continues. The court distinguished the Wandersee Case in the following language:

“In Wandersee v. Industrial Comm. 198 Wis. 345, 223 N. W. 837, the employee was denied compensation because he was a resident of Minnesota, who was not subject to the laws of Wisconsin and whose service was to be performed outside of the state.”

From the foregoing cases it may be concluded that where the employer and employee are residents of Wisconsin, and the contract is made in Wisconsin, the provisions of the Wisconsin act become a part of the contract of employment, and the employee is entitled to the benefits of the act no matter where he performs the services and no matter where his injury in the course of his employment is sustained. It may also be taken as established by the Wandersee Case that where the employee neither lives in Wisconsin, nor performs service in Wisconsin, nor is injured here, he is not under the act even though his employer resides in Wisconsin and the contract is made in this state. In all of these cases the fact that the contract is made in this state and that the parties are resident here is treated as a major factor in determining that the Wisconsin law has extraterritorial effect. It appears that the Iowa act also has extraterritorial effect. Under the provisions of the Iowa compensation act, secs. 1363 and 1377, it appears that the Iowa statute is of the optional type and that where the employer and employee have not given notice of an election to reject the terms of the act, “every contract of hire, express or implied, shall be construed as an implied agreement between them and a part of the contract on the part of the employer to provide, secure, and pay, and on the part of the employee to accept compensation in the manner as by this chapter provided for all personal injuries sustained arising out of and in the course of [473]*473the employment.” In the case of Pierce v. Bekins Van & Storage Co. 185 Iowa, 1346, 172 N. W. 191, the employer and employee were residents of Iowa. The contract was made in that state and partially performed there, but the injury occurred in Nebraska. The court said:

“Where the statute is elective as to both employer and employee, payment of compensation is not the performance of a statute duty, but the performance of conditions in the contract of hiring, which conditions are in the contract by means of reading the compensation statute into the contract.
. . . Under such a contract the employee could not refuse to obey if the master directed him to leave the state to perform an act in the course of the employment. If he did obey, there is no reason why the master should be allowed to repudiate that part of the contract of employment which provided how compensation should be made if the servant suffered an injury while obeying this direction. Such a contract protects both and defines the rights of both.

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Bluebook (online)
234 N.W. 889, 203 Wis. 466, 1931 Wisc. LEXIS 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/interstate-power-co-v-industrial-commission-wis-1931.