Mackin v. Detroit-Timkin Axle Co.

153 N.W. 49, 187 Mich. 8, 1915 Mich. LEXIS 549
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJune 14, 1915
DocketDocket No. 44
StatusPublished
Cited by108 cases

This text of 153 N.W. 49 (Mackin v. Detroit-Timkin Axle Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mackin v. Detroit-Timkin Axle Co., 153 N.W. 49, 187 Mich. 8, 1915 Mich. LEXIS 549 (Mich. 1915).

Opinion

Steere, J.

This case involves the constitutionality of Act No. 10, Extra Session 1912, known as the workmen’s compensation law, entitled:

[11]*11“An act to promote the welfare of the people of this State, relating to the liability of employers for injuries or death sustained by their employees, providing compensation for the accidental injury to or death of employees and methods for the payment of the same, establishing an industrial accident board, defining its powers, providing for a review of its awards, making an appropriation to carry out the provisions of this act, and restricting the right to compensation or damages in such cases to such as are provided by this act.” (2 How. Stat. [2d Ed.] § 3939 et seq.).

Plaintiff brought an action ex delicto to recover damages from defendant under the common law for personal injuries sustained while in its employ, filing his declaration in a plea of trespass on the case, properly stating a cause of action, to which defendant pleaded the general issue and gave notice, as a special defense, that it would rely upon said Act No. 10, and offer proof to show that it had elected in due form and prescribed manner to come under the provisions of said act, and in every way met its requirements, but that plaintiff had refused to accept the benefits and the indemnity provided for and offered to him under said act.

Upon the trial it was shown without dispute, and stipulated, that plaintiff was in defendant’s employ continuously for over two months prior to the 8th of October, 1912, upon which day he was injured by an electric shock received while oiling some shafting, and thrown from the step ladder upon which he was standing, falling on a grinding machine, receiving severe bruises and injuries, as a result of which he was confined to his bed and home for several weeks, where he was attended and treated, by a physician employed by defendant; that, owing to defective insulation and equipment in defendant’s plant, the countershaft which plaintiff was oiling had become heavily charged with electricity, and had been in that [12]*12condition for 8 days and upwards prior to the time of his injury, of which condition he had no previous notice or knowledge.

Over 30 days before said accident defendant had filed a written statement with the Industrial Accident Board electing to be subject to and accepting the provisions of the workmen’s compensation law, adopting one of the provided methods specified in said act for payment of compensation to its employees, which election and adoption of method for payment of compensation were approved by the Industrial Accident Board September 26, 1912. Plaintiff gave no notice to defendant in writing that he elected not to become subject to the workmen’s compensation law, as provided in paragraph 2, § 8, of part 1 of said act, and remained continuously in the employ of the defendant for more than 30 days after it had filed its election to come under the provisions of the act.

Defendant tendered plaintiff in proper time and manner the full amount due him for his injuries under the workmen’s compensation law, which he declined to accept, not because it was insufficient according to the provisions of the act, but on the ground said act was unconstitutional, and he claimed the right to an action for personal injuries and trial by jury under the common law.

It was also stipulated between the parties at the trial that, if said Act No. 10 was found unconstitutional in the particulars claimed by plaintiff’s counsel, he was entitled to have a verdict directed in his favor for an agreed amount, but, if said act was found constitutional, plaintiff could not recover, and defendant was entitled to a verdict in its favor. After argument, on motion of counsel for defendant, the trial court sustained the constitutionality of the act as. to the question raised, and entered judgment on a directed verdict for defendant.

[13]*13Though more fully elaborated and subdivided, the propositions urged by plaintiff’s counsel against the constitutionality of the act under consideration may be summarized and stated as follows: It conclu-

sively imputes to the employee knowledge of the employer’s election to come under the law; it confers upon the Industrial Accident Board judicial powers; it includes provisions not covered by the title, and the title embraces more than one subject; it discriminates against domestic, farm, and casual employees, and is class legislation; it deprives a parent of right of action for injury to his child; and it deprives an injured employee of the right to be represented by an attorney or agent of his choice, in making all attorney fees subject to regulation by the Industrial Accident Board.

It is to be recognized at the outset that workmen’s compensation legislation of this class, based on the economic principle of trade risk in that personal injury losses incident to industrial pursuits are, like wages and breakage of machinery, a part of the cost of production, works fundamental changes in the familiar principles underlying and governing the doctrine of liability for negligence as heretofore applied to the relation of master and servant. But it by no means follows that this comparatively recent and radical legislation upon the subject, enacted to meet changed industrial conditions, and afford relief from evils and defects which had developed under the old rules of law in negligence cases for personal injuries of employees, violates the spirit or letter of our Constitution. It can be assumed without misgiving that there is no vested right in any remedy for a tort yet to happen which the Constitution protects. Except as to vested rights, the legislative power exists to change or abolish existing statutory and common-law remedies. Common and statute laws only remain in force until altered or repealed. Constitution, [14]*14Schedule, § 1. In Second Employers’ Liability Cases, 223 U. S. 50 (32 Sup. Ct. 175, 38 L. R. A. [N. S.] 44), sustaining the constitutionality of the Federal employers’ liability act, which abolished the defenses of contributory negligence, assumption of risk where injury was due to violation of a safety statute, and the fellow-servant doctrine, the Supreme Court of the United States quoted with approval the, rule gleaned by Bradbury from its former decisions, as follows:

“A person has no property, no vested interest, in any rule of the common law. That is only one of the forms of municipal law, and is no more sacred than any other. Rights of property which have been created by the common law cannot be taken away without due process; but the law itself, as a rule of conduct, may be changed at the will * * * of the legislature, unless prevented by constitutional limitations. Indeed, the great office of statutes is to remedy defects in the common law as they are developed, and to adapt it to the changes of time and circumstances.”

While legislation providing for compensation of workmen for industrial injuries upon the basis of trade risks relating to the industry, to be charged against it as part of the cost, is of comparatively modern origin in countries where the common law of England has been the foundation of prevailing systems of law, in recent years statutes of that import, similar in purpose, and often with many provisions nearly identical, have been enacted in England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, the British provinces of North America, and about one-half of the United States.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
153 N.W. 49, 187 Mich. 8, 1915 Mich. LEXIS 549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mackin-v-detroit-timkin-axle-co-mich-1915.