Taylor v. Bi-State Development Agency

416 S.W.2d 31, 1967 Mo. App. LEXIS 701
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 16, 1967
DocketNo. 32605
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 416 S.W.2d 31 (Taylor v. Bi-State Development Agency) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Bi-State Development Agency, 416 S.W.2d 31, 1967 Mo. App. LEXIS 701 (Mo. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

WOLFE, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Circuit Court affirming an award of the Industrial Commission of Missouri. A Referee of the Division of Workmen’s Compensation made an award to the claimant employee. The employer appealed to the Commission which affirmed the award of the Referee and made additional findings of fact. The employer then appealed to the Circuit Court where the award was affirmed, and this appeal followed.

At the outset of the hearing before the Referee it was established that the Bi-State Development Agency was under the Workmen’s Compensation Law and that its liability under the law was fully insured by the Transit Casualty Company. It was also established that the claimant employee was employed by the Bi-State Development Agency at an average weekly wage that exceeded $100.00.

The claim, which was timely filed, alleged “The claimant had just finished his work as an operator of a bus, which was his occupation, and was in the recreation room provided for employees, at 3901 Park Ave. and was standing there watching the employees shoot pool. Another employee came up and shoved claimant, catching claimant off balance and he fell to the floor striking the lower part of his back against a radiator valve.” He alleged that the accident caused injury to the lower back and spine.

There is but one point raised by the appellant and that is that the Circuit Court erred in affirming the award of the Commission because the evidence does not support the conclusion of the Commission that the injury arose out of and in the course of [33]*33claimant’s employment. The following facts are the facts disclosed by the record as those facts relate to the point raised.

On February 11, 1964, the claimant worked as a bus operator. His work for the day ended at 11:19 A.M. At that time another operator took over the bus that claimant had been driving and claimant then went by bus from the relief point to the Park Avenue garage to turn in his receipts. At the garage on Park Avenue in the assembly room he turned in his day’s receipts. This was concluded at 12:10 P.M.

Adjoining the assembly room there was a recreation room. This room had two pool tables in it, a television, a radio and candy, cigarette and soda vending machines. The employees had purchased one of the pool tables but the room was maintained by the Bi-State Transit Company and was under their control. It was used as a recreation room for operators waiting to go out on runs or for those who worked on split shifts who wished to spend their time between shifts there. The operators were allowed to use the room at any time up to 8:00 P.M. when the lights were turned off.

After the claimant had turned in his day’s receipts his work was finished and he was free to go home. He went instead into the recreation room and played pool. No one asked him to remain there, he just wanted to play pool and relax. He was not subject to any further service that day. There were occasions when emergencies arose when regular operators were called upon. If there were men available in the recreation room they would call them there. He had worked as an operator for Bi-State and its predecessors since 1940 and had been called during that period of time to make emergency runs five or ten times. If called he was not obliged to take such call but he said that he would have done so. Normally the men on the extra board were the ones who were called and claimant did not know if there were any- men on the extra board that day. The operator who caused claimant’s injury testified that he thought they were all out of extra men at the time.

Claimant played one game of pool and was standing by the pool table when another operator gave him a playful nudge that caught him off balance. This caused him to fall and strike his back against the steam valve on a radiator with the resulting injuries for which he seeks compensation.

The Commission found upon the foregoing facts “ * * * that -the maintenance of the recreation room was an incident of the employment and that it resulted in a substantial benefit to both the employer and employee. * .* * ” They concluded for the reason stated that the employee should be compensated for the injury he received.

The scope of our review of the finding and award of the Commission is fixed by Article 5, § 22, 1945 Constitution of Missouri, V.A.M.S., which states that in passing upon the decisions and findings of administrative agencies “ * * * such review shall include the determination whether the same are authorized by law, and in cases in which a hearing is required by law, whether the same are supported by competent and substantial evidence upon the whole record.” The extent of appellate review of such cases has been stated and restated many times, but for those interested in re-reading it, we cite again Wood v. Wagner Electric Corporation, 355 Mo. 670, 197 S.W.2d 647; Francis v. Sam Miller Motors, Mo., 282 S.W.2d 5; Davidson v. Scullin Steel Company, Mo.App., 408 S.W.2d 171.

The Commission rested its award primarily upon three cases which it considered applicable to the facts. They are Conklin v. Kansas City Public Service Co., 226 Mo.App. 309, 41 S.W.2d 608; Wamhoff v. Wagner Electric Corporation, 354 Mo. 711, 190 S.W.2d 915, 161 A.L.R. 1454; Gillmore v. Ring Const. Co., 227 Mo.App. 1217, 61 S.W.2d 764.

[34]*34The case of Conklin v. Kansas City Public Service Co. involved an employee who was injured while watching a game of baseball. Such games were regularly played during the lunch period in a building on the employer’s premises called the “paint shop.” The employees of several departments each had a team and they were encouraged to play or to watch the game. The lunch period was from 12 to 12:30 and while an employee was free to leave for lunch many did not and it was a convenience for both the employer and the employee to have a place of exercise provided during their short wait to return to work. Upon this theory the Kansas City Court of Appeals held that the employee spectator injured by a thrown bat should be paid compensation. The case here considered differs in that the mishap which here caused the injury did not occur during a break in the work day, but after the work day was finished and claimant was enjoying a game of pool prior to going home.

Gillmore v. Ring Const. Co., 227 Mo.App. 1217, 61 S.W.2d 764, supra, concerns claimant who, with others, was standing around a fire on a construction job. The weather was bad and the workers had been told to wait to see if there would be sufficient change in the weather to permit them to work. While so waiting on the orders of the foreman the claimant suffered a broken leg by reason of “some horseplay” among those waiting. The court there quite properly held that the accident arose out of and in the course of claimant’s employment. They had been told to wait. This differs materially from the case before us for the claimant here was not told to wait for any purpose.

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Bluebook (online)
416 S.W.2d 31, 1967 Mo. App. LEXIS 701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-bi-state-development-agency-moctapp-1967.