132 Minn. 375 | Minn. | 1916
On February 26, 1914, it was discovered that a pupil attending the West High School, in the city of Minneapolis, ivas afflicted with smallpox. On March 4 the commission of health of the city ordered plaintiff, a student at said school, to be excluded therefrom unless she submitted to vaccination. She refused. The next day the department of health of the city adopted a resolution reciting that an epidemic of smallpox existed in the city, and prohibiting all persons, not vaccinated, who had been exposed to or had come in contact with a case of smallpox from being present in any school in the city for a period of not less than two weeks 'from date of exposure to the disease. Hpon being advised of the action of the health department the board of education of the city, on the same day, passed this resolution, viz: “Kesolved, that this board hereby approves the action of the department of health of the city of Minneapolis in requiring that pupils, teachers and employees of the West High School who have been exposed to smallpox shall be vaccinated or
The statute is highly penal and to warrant a recovery the plaintiff must establish that the vote of defendant excluded her from the privileges of the school, and that she was so excluded without sufficient cause.
We do not think the findings show that the vote of defendant excluded or suspended plaintiff from attending the school. The answer contains this allegation of fact, found true by the court: “That aside from the vote aforesaid (referring to the passage of the resolution above set forth) neither said board of education nor this defendant has ever taken any action in the premises whatsoever.” The resolution does not refer to plaintiff by name, nor do the pleadings or findings place her within its operation. On the contrary the court finds that there was “no evidence to show that this plaintiff herein was ever in fact in contact with said Quinn [the pupil suffering from smallpox] or exposed to contagion by reason of proximity with him.” The defendant cannot be penalized for the act of the health commissioner or the superintendent of the school. The finding that the board of education approved plaintiff’s expulsion must be held to refer to no act. of defendant’s other than his vote on the resolution in view of the allegation in the answer found true as already stated.
' We also think it fairly appears that the trial court’s finding of want of sufficient cause for defendant’s affirmative vote on the resolution adopted by the board of education is based upon an erroneous conception of the effect of a statute and not upon facts, assuming now that plaintiff was a pupil covered by the resolution. From the time the said section 2900 appeared upon our statute, in 1877, down to the enactment of chapter
In 1902 in State v. Zimmerman, 86 Minn. 353, 90 N. W. 783, 58 L.R.A.78, 91 Am. St. 351, a regulation requiring children to be vaccinated as a condition precedent to attendance in a public school during an epidemic of smallpox was upheld as reasonably necessary. And the
The judgment must be reversed.