Travelers Insurance v. Clark

197 S.E. 650, 58 Ga. App. 115, 1938 Ga. App. LEXIS 200
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJune 11, 1938
Docket26813
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 197 S.E. 650 (Travelers Insurance v. Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Travelers Insurance v. Clark, 197 S.E. 650, 58 Ga. App. 115, 1938 Ga. App. LEXIS 200 (Ga. Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

Sutton, J.

“In order for an injury to be compensable under the terms of the workmen’s compensation act, it must have been occasioned ‘by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment,’ Code, § 114-102. An accident arises in the course of the employment, within the meaning of the act, ‘when it occurs within the period of the employment, at a place where the employee reasonably may be in the performance of his duties, and while he is fulfilling those duties or engaged in doing something incidental thereto. . . An accident arises “out of” the employment when it arises because of it, as when the employment is a contributing, proximate cause. This and the conditions stated above must concur before the act can apply.’” Employers Liabil[121]*121ity Assurance Corporation v. Woodward, 53 Ga. App. 778 (187 S. E. 142); Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Mangham, 56 Ga. App. 498, 499 (193 S. E. 87). If the accident which resulted in the death of Clark arose out of and in the course of the employment with Cromer & Thornton Inc., it would necessarily follow that compensation was properly awarded in the present case. If, however, Clark was the special employee of Pinnell and Glasgow, and, as contended by the plaintiffs in error, free from any control by his general employer on the occasion in question, not acting in the furtherance of its business, the defendants are not liable. The director and full board found that in accompanying Pinnell and Glasgow Clark was acting under the command of the general employer and serving its interests. The superior court, on appeal, affirmed the finding and award. The defendant in error strongly insists that the evidence so authorized. While it is well established that in the absence of fraud the finding of fact by the Industrial Board will not be reversed by the appellate courts if there is any evidence to sustain 'such finding, and that the provisions of the workmen’s compensation act will be liberally construed to effect its beneficent purpose, we think from a careful consideration of the record that Clark, at the time of the accident which resulted in his death, was engaged in a voluntary act which was entirely disconnected from the general employment with Cromer & Thornton Inc., and was under the sole control of Pinnell and Glasgow in an enterprise in which the defendant’s agent merely consented that he be used. We now proceed to an examination of the law and the evidence.

In determining whether or not the relationship of master and servant prevails in a compensation case, the same principles that exist under the common law obtain. “The relation of master and servant exists whenever the employer retains the right to direct the result to be accomplished, or, in other words, not only what shall be done, but how it shall be done.” Singer Mfg. Co. v. Rahn, 132 U. S. 518 (10 Sup. Ct. 175, 33 L. ed. 440). It is not contended in the present case that there was a contract of hiring between Cromer & Thornton Inc. and Pinnell and Glasgow. Clark was borrowed. Cromer & Thornton Inc. was paid nothing. The agreement was that Pinnell and Glasgow should pay Clark. But the principles of law in a case of hiring may profitably be exam[122]*122ined in determining the present issue. In Brown v. Smith & Kelly, 86 Ga. 274, 277 (12 S. E. 411, 22 Am. St. R. 456), the following was quoted from Wood on Master & Servant, § 317: “The real test by which to determine whether a person is acting as the servant of another is to ascertain whether at the time when the injury was inflicted he was subject to such person’s orders and control, and was liable to be discharged by him for disobedience of orders or misconduct.” See also Bibb Mfg. Co. v. Souther, 52 Ga. App. 722 (184 S. E. 421). For a hirer or borrower to become the master of the servant of the general employer under circumstances such as we now have under consideration, the headnote in Brown v. Smith & Kelly, supra, makes it clear that he must have “complete control and direction” of the servant for the occasion; the general employer must have “no such control” or, in other words, must relinquish control; the hirer or borrower must have the “exclusive right to discharge” the servant and “put another in his place or to put him about other work.” A well-recognized principle is stated in Savannah Electric Co. v. Hodges, 6 Ga. App. 470 (65 S. E. 322) : “If a servant steps aside from his master’s business, for however short a time, to do an act entirely disconnected from it, and injury results to another from such independent voluntary act, the servant may be liable, but the master is not liable.” As stated in 18 R. C. L. 784, § 244: “The fact that an employee is the general servant of one employer does not, as matter of law, prevent him from becoming the particular servant of another, who may become liable for his acts. And it is true as a general proposition that when one person lends his servant to another for a particular employment, the servant, for anything done in that particular employment, must be dealt with as the servant of the man to whom he is lent, although he remains the general servant of the person who lent him.”

The above principles of law have been set forth as an aid in determining whether or not, under the evidence, the Industrial Board was authorized to- find that the accident in the present case was one which arose “out of and in the course of the employment” with Cromer & Thornton Inc. No reported case exactly in point has been cited by counsel for either party; and though many may be examined, we are left at last to decide the question according to the statute, guided by established principles and the particular [123]*123facts of the case. Volumes have been written in the opinions upon the quoted clause of the compensation act. “Lord Wrenbury observed of the workmen’s compensation act of England that ‘No recent act has provoked a larger amount of litigation than the workmen’s compensation act. The few and seemingly simple words “arising out of and in the course of the employment” have been the fruitful (or fruitless) source of a mass of decisions turning upon nice distinctions and supported by refinements so subtle as to leave the mind of the reader in a maze of confusion. From their number counsel can, in most cases, cite whatever seems to be an authority for resolving in his favor, on whichever side he may be, the question in dispute.’ Herbert v. Fox (1916), A. C. 405 (85 L. J. K. B. 441, 114 L. T. N. S. 426, 32 Times L. Rep. 261, 60 Sol. J. 237, 9 B. W. C. C. 164 Ann. Cas. 1916D, 578, 7 British Rul. Cas. 142). See 28 R. C. L. 799. He also said that it is best to go always back to the words of the statute, and, guided by certain broad principles which must be taken to be established, seek to apply this language to the particular case.” New Amsterdam Casualty Co. v. Sumrell, 30 Ga. App. 682, 687 (118 S. E. 786).

Under the principles set forth above, and the evidence fairly and reasonably construed most favorably to the claimant, a finding was demanded that the accident in the present case did not arise out of and in the course of employment with Cromer & Thornton Inc.

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Bluebook (online)
197 S.E. 650, 58 Ga. App. 115, 1938 Ga. App. LEXIS 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travelers-insurance-v-clark-gactapp-1938.