Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. Jones

1938 OK 571, 85 P.2d 274, 184 Okla. 103, 1938 Okla. LEXIS 433

• Court: Supreme Court of Oklahoma
• Decided: November 15, 1938
• Docket: No. 28257.
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This is an original proceeding in tbis court brought by tbe Magnolia Petroleum Company, hereafter' referred to as petitioner, to obtain a review of an award made by the State Industrial Commission in favor of Jerry Jones, hereafter referred to as respondent.

Tbe respondent, while in the employ of W. C. Gassaway, sustained certain accidental personal injuries, the nature and extent of which are not here involved. The petitioner was tbe owner of an oil and gasoline service station and equipment which it had leased to W. C. Gassaway under a lease contract. Tbe relation of the petitioner and of W. C., Gassaway was purely that of landlord and tenant or lessor and lessee. Tbe State Industrial Commission construed the contract as one of agency and found that W. C. Gassaway was primarily liable, and that tbe petitioner was secondarily liable to tbe respondent, and made an award of com pensation for temporary total disability in accordance with said finding. The petitioner contends that such finding is without any competent evidence to support it, and that the award, in so far as it attempts to hold it secondarily liable to the respondent, is without authority of law.

Section 13351, O. S. 1931, 85 Okla. Stats. Ann. sec. 11, in part provides as follows:

“Provided, however, that for the purposes of this act, a lessor or sublessor, shall be deemed not to be one having an interest in the subject matter, the principal employer, contracting employer, employer, general, intermediate, or immediate, independent contractor or intermediate contractor, of the lessee or of any subsequent sublessee, or of the' employees of the lessee or of any subsequent lessee, including the employees of the subcontractors of the lessee or of any subsequent sublessee.”

In the case of Le Flore County Coal Co. v. State Industrial Commission, 147 Okla. 247, 296 P. 387, this court said:

“Where the relationship of lessor and lessee exists, and an employee of the lessee is injured in the course of his employment, the lessor is exempt from any liability under the Workmen’s Compensation Law as provided for in section 7285, C. O. S. 1921, as amended by chapter 61, sec. 3, Session Laws 1923.”

The rule thus announced has been subsequently followed in the eases of E. D. Bedwell Coal Co. v. State Industrial Commission, 160 Okla. 158, 16 P.2d 246; Myers Mining & Milling Co. v. Tennant, 174 Okla. 16, 49 P.2d 700, and we see no reason now to depart therefrom.

Since the contract between the petitioner and W. C. Gassaway was in writing and was clear and unambiguous, and created nothing more than the relation of landlord and tenant or lessor and lessee between the parties, the case of Eason Oil Co. v. Runyan, 158 Okla. 241, 13 P.2d 118, cited and relied upon by the respondent, has no application here. Under the record, the State Industrial Commission erred as a matter of' law in holding the petitioner secondary liable to the respondent, and therefore the award is vacated in so far as it applies to said petitioner.

Award vacated as to the Magnolia Petroleum Company.

OSBORN, C. J., BATLESS, V. C. J:, and RILEY, PHELPS, and HURST, JJ., concur.