BRUCE CUNNING v. CITY OF HOPKINS AND ANOTHER.
No. 37,917
Supreme Court of Minnesota
June 24, 1960
103 N. W. (2d) 876
Robb, Robb & Van Eps, for respondents.
NELSON, JUSTICE.
Writ of certiorari to review a decision of the Industrial Commission.
Bruce Cunning, employee-relator, Richard Walker, and David Bak
On that morning the trio had engaged in a general cleanup of equipment and grounds. In the afternoon they picked up two empty barrels which they filled with kerosene to spray fence lines in order to kill weeds. This was to be their afternoon‘s job. The city furnished a half-ton pickup truck to carry them to the various grounds and parks. Bakken had been designated as the driver. The truck bed was enclosed with sideboards, 14 inches high, and a tailgate of lesser height. They placed the oil barrels in the bed of the truck and relator and Walker sat on opposite sides of the truck bed to steady the barrels. The record indicates that relator sat on the left and Walker on the right in the truck bed, near the cab, to make sure that the barrels would not tip. As they reached a park or playground they would park the truck and engage in spraying fences and weeds. Handling and steadying the barrels in the truck bed while the truck was moving constituted one of their duties.
They first took care of a softball field, then a park, and were on the way to another park when it became necessary to stop for a red light at the intersection of County Road No. 18 and Excelsior Boulevard. Just prior thereto both relator and Walker tossed a playground ball into the cab. Bakken threw one ball back into the truck bed. It bounced into the street and relator retrieved it. Although considerable mention was made of this occurrence at the hearing, the record indicates that this ended when they turned into St. Louis Street.
Both relator and Walker recall that there was a raincoat in the bed of the truck. Relator cannot recall what if anything was done with the raincoat. He has no recollection of continuing the trip after the green light came on.
Walker testified that it did not occur to him to throw the raincoat over the cab initially but that both threw it; that this occurred while they were standing up because of the chuckholes and the bumpy condition of the street over which they were driving. He last saw the raincoat when they went into the first curve; nothing had been said about what to do with the raincoat, his version being that it was too bumpy and noisy at the time; when they went into the first curve or turn he had to hold on because he was on the right side and the turn was made to the left; the second turn was to the right. Walker testified that Bakken, in going into the second turn, took it rather suddenly and sharply; that it was a sharper curve; that the cab window was open on the side on which he was standing and he was forced to hang onto it. He says that he was pulled to the left when the corner was taken.
Bakken‘s testimony coincides with that of relator and Walker as to what occurred until such time as they made the stop for the red light. Bakken states they had traveled some 6 or 7 blocks on St. Louis Street after that stop before the accident occurred; that he was familiar with the street and the turns; that the raincoat was thrown over the top of
During the hearing Bakken testified as follows on redirect:
“Q. Mr. Bakken, I have a few further questions. First of all, to straighten out a particular point, you said the windshield was never completely covered-completely, I mean both portions of the glass in front of the truck?
“A. No, sir, it was never.
* * * * *
“Q. You stated that your speed was 20 to 25 miles an hour?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And you also stated that the road was bumpy?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And your observation also was that there was no traffic or relatively no traffic?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And you took the turn at that speed, 20 to 25 miles per hour?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Mr. Bakken, do you know for a fact who threw the coat or who blinded your vision with the coat?
“A. No, sir, not for a fact.
“Q. Do you know if the coat was being held there by anybody or whether the wind was holding it there?
“A. I believe the wind was holding it there.
* * * * *
“Q. But at no time from the time the raincoat came over the windshield until Mr. Walker pounded on the window for you to stop did you make any observation through the back window, is that right?
“A. To my knowledge, I didn‘t.”
The issues involved appear to be whether relator‘s injury is one “arising out of” and “in the course of” his employment so that he is entitled to compensation within the meaning of
” ‘Personal injury’ means injury arising out of and in the course of employment and includes personal injury caused by occupational disease; but does not cover an employee except while engaged in, on, or about the premises where his services require his presence as a part of such service at the time of the injury and during the hours of such service. Where the employer regularly furnished transportation to his employees to and from the place of employment such employees are subject to this chapter while being so transported, but shall not include an injury caused by the act of a third person or fellow employee in
tended to injure the employee because of reasons personal to him, and not directed against him as an employee, or because of his employment.” (Italics supplied.)
The facts in the instant case clearly indicate that the injury to relator occurred in the course of transportation of the employees from place to place and that it arose out of and in the course of employment.
Where transportation is furnished by an employer as an incident of the employment, it is generally held that an injury to or death of an employee going or coming in the vehicle so furnished by the employer, and under his control, arises out of and comes within the course of the employment within the meaning of the Workmen‘s Compensation Act. See, State ex rel. London & L. Ind. Co. v. District Court, 141 Minn. 348, 170 N. W. 218; Workman v. Endriss, 164 Minn. 199, 204 N. W. 641.2 Of course, the injury must arise out of and in the course of employment since the statute limits liability to cases where personal injury or death of employee arises out of and in the course of his employment.
Respondents argue that because the accident resulted from “horseplay” in which relator was a participant it did not arise out of his employment.
This court in Petro v. Martin Baking Co. 239 Minn. 307, 58 N. W. (2d) 731, held that since the legislature did not provide that aggression, willful misconduct, unlawful conduct, or willful intent to injure another is a defense to recovery of workmen‘s compensation, the supreme court will not read such defenses into the act. It was also held that the language of
In the Petro case there was a physical encounter between Petro and Stokes, employees of the baking company. Petro was a driver-salesman
“* * * In our opinion, however, the statutory language contemplates a deliberate intent on the part of the employee to cause injury or death to himself, not a failure on his part to realize the probable consequences to himself of his foolish acts.” (Italics supplied.)
The employer and insurer in that case contended that the legislature, by providing the defense of intoxication, had indicated that it had not excepted willful or unlawful misconduct from those things which are proper defenses in a compensation proceeding and that a reasonable interpretation of the law, based upon sound public policy, required an adoption of the aggressor defense. To this the majority did not agree. It held that the legislature has specifically provided the two defenses mentioned above and it has not provided that aggression is a defense, and it has not provided, as some other states have, that willful misconduct, unlawful conduct, or willful intent to injure another is a defense. This court stated (239 Minn. 315, 58 N. W. [2d] 736): “Under these circumstances we will not read such defenses into the act. If the legislature has gone too far in removing contributory fault as a factor in workmen‘s compensation, it is for the legislature to correct that action” (italics supplied), and the majority refused to reverse the decision of the Industrial Commission.
The employer and insurer in the Petro case also attempted to bring it within a statutory exclusion by virtue of the phrase “personal injuries arising out of and in the course of employment.” This exclusion is found in
“* * * an injury caused by the act of a third person or fellow employee intended to injure the employee because of reasons personal to him, and not directed against him as an employee, or because of his employment.”
“* * * based upon the assumption that dispute between the two men was a personal grudge fight, initiated by decedent and defended by Stokes, which did not arise out of the employment because it was too remote from the work-connected accusations. It has thus been disposed of by the commission‘s finding and the foregoing discussion. The cases of Goodland v. L. S. Donaldson Co. 227 Minn. 583, 36 N. W. (2d) 4, and In re Wooley v. Minneapolis Equipment Co. 157 Minn. 428, 196 N. W. 477, cited by the employer and its insurer, are distinguishable on their facts.”
It is no doubt true that the majority of jurisdictions that have passed upon the question involved in the Petro case have refused compensation to an “aggressor” even though the dispute was work-connected, but this was done by some courts on the theory that the injury did not arise out of the employment and by others because of statutory defenses granted to the employer. This court chose in the Petro case, however, to follow the lead of four jurisdictions which granted compensation to persons injured in work-induced disputes without regard to the fact that they were aggressors, and clearly stated that the reasoning of the following jurisdictions was preferred: State Comp. Ins. Fund v. Industrial Acc. Comm. 38 Cal. (2d) 659, 242 P. (2d) 311; Dillon‘s Case, 324 Mass. 102, 85 N. E. (2d) 69; Newell v. Moreau, 94 N. H. 439, 55 A. (2d) 476; Matter of Commr. of Taxation & Finance v. Bronx Hospital, 276 App. Div. 708, 97 N. Y. S. (2d) 120. As pointed out in the Petro case it appears that basic to the conclusions reached in the foregoing decisions is the reasoning of Mr. Justice Rutledge, then of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in Hartford Acc. & Ind. Co. v. Cardillo, 72 App. D. C. 52, 112 F. (2d) 11, a case in which the claimant was not an aggressor. Mr. Justice Rutledge reasoned that a dispute between employees is not necessarily disconnected from their work because it has no relevancy to the immediate task or tendency to further the work, involves a lapse from duty, or contains an element of volition, illegality, or personal anger. The fundamental question is whether the claimant was injured, not
“* * * the environment includes associations as well as conditions, and * * * associations include the faults and derelictions of human beings as well as their virtues and obediences. Men do not discard their personal qualities when they go to work. Into the job they carry their intelligence, skill, habits of care and rectitude. Just as inevitably they take along also their tendencies to carelessness and camaraderie, as well as emotional make-up. In bringing men together, work brings these qualities together, causes frictions between them, creates occasions for lapses into carelessness, and for fun-making and emotional flare-up. Work could not go on if men became automatons repressed in every natural expression. ‘Old Man River’ is a part of loading steamboats. These expressions of human nature are incidents inseparable from working together. They involve risks of injury and these risks are inherent in the working environment.”
The position taken in the four jurisdictions referred to in the Petro case have received the approval of leading commentators in the field of workmen‘s compensation. See, Horovitz, The Litigious Phrase: “Arising out of” Employment, 4 NACCA L. J. 19, 47, 53; Horovitz, Assaults and Horseplay Under Workmen‘s Compensation Laws, 41 Ill. L. Rev. 311.
In Newell v. Moreau, 94 N. H. 439, 55 A. (2d) 476, the court pointed out that New Hampshire was one of the first (1911) states to adopt a valid workmen‘s compensation act and that some features of the New Hampshire act were unmistakably moulded after the British act of 1906 (6 Edw. 7, c. 58). Section 1(2)(c) of the British act provided that compensation was disallowed (except in certain circumstances) for injury attributable to a workman‘s “serious and wilful misconduct,” the New Hampshire act containing this phrase in the disjunctive. Rev. Laws of N. H. 1942, c. 216, § 10. In considering the meaning of this provision the court made it clear that misconduct itself
“* * * the effect of defendant‘s argument is that plaintiff was hired to work and not to fight and that this was wilful misconduct precluding recovery under the statute. While this argument has an appealing quality to it, it has not been followed in analogous cases and it proves too much. Employees are also hired to work and not to scuffle, commit batteries or engage in horseplay * * * nor to depart from the work routine to make a personal purchase of tobacco * * * nor to make other departures from the hired work. * * * Yet, in all these cited cases compensation or recovery was allowed because it was such conduct of employees as could be reasonably expected and therefore was adjudged incidental to the employment. The inevitable result of associating men together in work is the same stress and strain that affect human mortals generally. Arguments, horseplay and some deviation from the planned schedule are bound to occur; they are compensable (and not necessarily considered wilful) when related to the work. That an assault may arise from an argument, is to be expected as much as that a battery will occur from horseplay. There is no logical reason for recovery in one case and denial in the other so long as the injury or death is the result of the employment * * * * * * such conduct is ‘part and parcel of the working environment’ * * * and therefore one of the perils of the service.’ * * *
* * * * *
“We must constantly remember that in this case we are construing a compensation statute. ‘Since the employer may be in no way to blame or have anything to do with the injury, the liability to compensate for it is in no usual sense tortious in character.’ * * * We should not insert
the conception of contributory fault which the compensation statute discarded and which is not a bar under section 10. * * * We prefer a liberal construction of the statute consistent with its history and general policy rather than a strict and literal interpretation based on the tort law of master and servant.” (Italics supplied.)
In Maltais v. Equitable Life Assur. Society, 93 N. H. 237, 242, 40 A. (2d) 837, 840, referred to and followed in the Newell case, the New Hampshire court, speaking of sportive conduct of a fellow employee, said:
“* * * Such lapses are conditions incident to the service, and for this court to hold that an injury arises out of the employment if it is inflicted on a workman attentive to duty by the sportive conduct of a fellow-employee, but that it does not so arise if the injured workman participates, however slightly, in the sport is to draw a distinction based on the injured workman‘s fault, when the only faults specifically named in the statute as precluding recovery are intoxication, violation of law, and serious or wilful misconduct * * *
“It could not be found on the evidence that the decedent was guilty of serious misconduct or of any other of the enumerated derelictions. ‘He was guilty at most of contributory fault.’ * * * But this was not sufficient, in view of the provisions of section 10, to defeat his right to compensation under the act.”
The record in the instant case will not support a finding that the accident occurred outside of the period of relator‘s employment or that he was not at the time performing any duty owing to his employer. The record is clear that he was injured while at a place where his duties required him to be. There being no conflict in the evidence, the conclusion to be reached here is one of law.
The prank that was played with the raincoat will not and cannot be stamped as deliberate, serious, or willful misconduct or willful intention to injure anyone. The statutory exceptions to be found in
Whatever may have contributed to the injury received by relator, it resulted in part or in whole from a risk incidental to the employment, and the fault he may have been guilty of does not deny him the protection which the Workmen‘s Compensation Act affords him as a worker. If he was guilty of misconduct by participating in horseplay, that misconduct does not come within the exceptions which the act says shall be grounds for denial of relief. Clearly, an assault due to horseplay or larking may be as incidental to the working environment as a work-induced assault arising from anger or resentment. The doctrine that horseplay arises out of the work environment, and hence arises out of and in the course of employment, was long ago given vitality by a great jurist, Mr. Justice Cardozo, in Leonbruno v. Champlain Silk Mills, 229 N. Y. 470, 128 N. E. 711, 13 A. L. R. 522.3 We think that since the advent of the Petro case the time has come to follow those authorities which hold that playful fault is immaterial under the Workmen‘s Compensation Act-an act which everyone agrees was designed for a
The facts in the instant case should be viewed in the light of modern compensation thinking, which recognizes that the risk of assaults, whether malicious or sporting, is incidental to employment. Therefore, assaults, whether growing out of a work quarrel as distinguished from a purely personal argument, or whether arising from frolicking, larking, or horseplay which is a part of the employment environment, do not justify a denial of compensation under the exceptions written into our Workmen‘s Compensation Act. The determination of whether it arose out of the employment must be based upon the character and the nature of the assault. Which one started it is not material. The gross negligence of an employee is not a defense to an employer. Neither does the gross negligence of an employer in most jurisdictions increase the employee‘s rights to compensation. It is true that the employee‘s culpability in aggression, short of willful misconduct, in many jurisdictions has been given judicial sanction as a defense without legislative basis. The setting up of such a defense in the instant case finds
The burden in the instant case is upon respondents to sustain their claim that relator‘s alleged misconduct was of such serious, grave, and willful nature as to come within some express exception granted by the act. Short of this, relator is entitled to the protection of the act whether his participation in the raincoat episode was either malicious or sporting.4
The Petro case clearly indicates that there are no statutory exceptions in the Workmen‘s Compensation Act which justify a denial of relator‘s right to compensation on the record in the instant case. This solution of the problems presented in the instant case finds support in the Kaletha, Hanson, and Petro decisions.
The referee in the instant case denied relief to relator; the Industrial Commission affirmed the findings of the referee by a vote of 2 to 1, writing both a majority and a dissenting opinion. We agree with the overall conclusions reached by Commissioner Robert E. Faricy in his dissenting opinion.
The order of the Industrial Commission is reversed and the commission is hereby directed to make the proper award, consonant herewith, to relator. Relator is allowed $300 as attorneys’ fees incident to proceedings in this court.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
DELL, CHIEF JUSTICE (dissenting).
In my opinion the injuries sustained by the employee did not arise out of his employment. They occurred because of the “horseplay” in
