Novack v. Montgomery Ward & Co.

198 N.W. 290, 158 Minn. 495, 1924 Minn. LEXIS 905
Supreme Court of Minnesota·Decided March 28, 1924·No. No. 23,904·Published·Cited by 54 cases

Opinion

Wilson, C. J.

Gudrund Novack was, at the age of 16 years and a few months, an employe of Montgomery, Ward & Company in St. Paul. She began her work at 8 o’clock a. m. She was required to use a freight elevator in going to and from the eighth floor where she worked. The elevator was not guarded as provided by law; it was unlawfully used. At 7:40 o’clock a. m. February 1, 1928, while riding in said elevator, and because it was not guarded as provided by law, she was severely injured, resulting in the loss of one leg. Her other leg was broken and she was otherwise severely injured. These statements are made as facts because they are alleged and for the purposes of this case, as against a demurrer, we accept them as true.

This action is brought by the father in behalf of his minor daughter, under the statute, to enforce the remedy which the common law gave the minor, to recover for her pain, suffering and loss of ability to earn money. The defendant has demurred to the complaint on the ground that the facts stated do not constitute a cause of action. This demurrer is predicated upon the proposition that, upon the facts disclosed, the daughter was under the Workmen’s Compensation Act; and that that act has taken away the common law action.

Upon oral argument it was stipulated by counsel as a fact in the case, that no election was made not to be within the act. The plaintiff has appealed from the order of the trial court sustaining the demurrer.

The plaintiff in this action takes the position that the action at common law may be prosecuted, and that she is not precluded therefrom by reason of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, because, as she says, it does not cover her for the reasons: (1) That at the time of her injury she was not engaged in, on or about the premises [498]*498where her services were performed, nor was she, at the time of her injury, at a place where her services required her presence as a part of that service as an employe. Section 66, J, chapter 82, p. 126, Laws 1921. (2) That the language “including minors who are legally permitted to work under the laws of the state” (Laws 1921, c. 82, § 66, subd. 2 [page 126]), prevents the compensation act from applying to her, as she claims, because she, as a minor, was not “permitted to work” in or about an elevator that was operated without being equipped as provided by law.

Did this injury arise out of and in the course of the employment of the minor?

We have heretofore declined to attempt to give a comprehensive definition of this language which should include all cases embraced therein and with precision exclude those outside of its terms.. We shall not attempt to do so now. It is sufficient to say that each case that comes to us must stand on its own facts. There are, however, some general characteristics that must exist.

The injury is received “in the course of” the employment when it comes while the employe is doing his work. It may be received “in- the course of the employment” and still have no causal connection with it. State ex rel. v. District Court, 129 Minn. 176, 151 N. W. 912. “In the course of” refers to the time, place and circumstances under which the accident takes place. It may be “in the course of the employment” and yet the employe may be standing still and not physically moving in his work. Kaletha v. Hall Mercantile Co. 157 Minn. 290, 196 N. W. 261. He is still included when he does those reasonable things which his contact with his employment expressly or impliedly permits him to do. It “arises out of” the employment when it reasonably appears-from all the facts and circumstances, that there is a causal connection between the conditions which the employer puts about the employe and the resulting injury. If the injury can be seen to have followed as a natural incident of the work and to have been contemplated by a reasonable person familiar with the whole situation as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the employment, then it arises “out of” the employment. It excludes an injury which cannot fairly be [499]*499traced to the employment as a contributing proximate cause and which comes from a hazard to which the employe would have been equally exposed apart from the employment. The moving cause of danger must be peculiar to the work and not common to the neighborhood. It must be incidental to the character of the business of the employer and not independent of the relation of employment. It need not have been foreseen or expected, but after the event it must appear to have had its origin in a risk connected with the employment, and to have flowed from that source as a rational consequence. Good illustrations are found in State ex rel. Anseth v. District Court, 134 Minn. 16, 158 N. W. 713, L. R. A. 1916F, 957; Mahowald v. Thompson-Starrett Co. 134 Minn. 113, 153 N. W. 913, 159 N. W. 965; Kaletha v. Hall Mercantile Co. 157 Minn. 290, 196 N. W. 261; State ex rel. McCarthy Bros. Co. v. District Court, 141 Minn. 61, 169 N. W. 274.

These general observations are supported by authority. Coronado Beach Co. v. Pillsbury, 172 Cal. 682, 158 Pac. 212, L. R. A. 1916F, 1164; McNicol’s Case, 215 Mass. 497, 102 N. E. 697, L. R. A. 1916A, 306; Kimbol v. Industrial Acc. Com. 173 Cal. 351, 160 Pac. 150, L. R. A. 1917B, 595, Ann. Cas. 1917E, 312; Larke v. John Hancock Mut. Life Ins. Co. 90 Conn. 303, 97 Atl. 320, L. R. A. 1916E, 584; Jacquemin v. Turner & Seymour Mnfg. Co. 92 Conn. 382, 103 Atl. 315, L. R. A. 1918E, 496; Mueller Const. Co. v. Industrial Board, 283 Ill. 148, 118 N. E. 1028, L. R. A. 1918F, 891, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 808; Milliken’s Case, 216 Mass. 293, 103 N. E. 898, L. R. A. 1916A, 337; Tarpper v. Weston-Mott Co. 200 Mich. 275, 166 N. W. 857, L. R. A. 1918E, 507; Hulley v. Moosbrugger, 88 N. J. Law, 161, 95 Atl. 1007, L. R. A. 1916C, 1203; State ex rel. Miller v. District Court, 138 Minn. 326, 164 N. W. 1012, L. R. A. 1918F, 881.

Where the employe enters the premises of the employer on her way to her work and pursues the proper course to the place of her labor, while there in the performance of her duties as an employe, and until she has left the premises by the ordinary means of exit, she is engaged in the ordinary pursuit of her employment, and is entitled to the protection and is subject to the limitations of the compensation act. There are numerous cases which illustrate the [500]*500principle that the sphere of employment exists and affords its shield to the employe while within the premises of the employer on the way to or on the return from the actual performance of the specific duties of the employment. Donovan’s Case, 217 Mass. 76, 104 N. E. 431, Ann. Cas. 1915C, 778, 4 N. C. C. A. 549; Gardiner v. State of California [Indus. Com.] 4 N. C. C. A. 859 note; Rayner v. Sligh Furn. Co. 180 Mich. 168, 146 N. W. 665, L. R. A. 1916A, 22, Ann. Cas. 1916A, 386; Terlecki v. Strauss, 85 N. J. Law 454, 89 Atl. 1023, affirmed 86 N. J. Law, 708, 92 Atl. 1087; Sundine’s Case, 218 Mass. 1, 105 N. E. 433, L. R. A. 1916A, 318; City of Milwaukee v. Althoff, 156 Wis. 68, 145 N. W. 238, L. R. A. 1916A, 327; John O’Brien’s Case, 228 Mass. 380, 117 N. E. 619; Hoffman v. Knisely Bros. 199 Ill. App. 530; Boyle v. Columbian Fire Proofing Co. 182 Mass. 93, 64 N. E. 726; Olsen v. Andrews, 168 Mass. 261, 47 N. E. 90; Wabash Ry. Co. v. Industrial Commission, 294 Ill. 119, 128 N. E. 290; White v. E. T. Slattery Co. 236 Mass. 28, 127 N. E. 597.

In the instant case the employe was on the premises of the employer and in its elevator which was her only means of getting to and from the eighth floor where she worked.

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Novack v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 198 N.W. 290, 158 Minn. 495, 1924 Minn. LEXIS 905 (Mich. 1924).

198 N.W. 290 (Novack v. Montgomery Ward & Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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