38 A.2d 801 | Conn. | 1944
The plaintiff are the dependents of Fritz Flodin, who, at the time of his injury and resulting death, was an employee of the Henry Wright Manufacturing Company, hereinafter called the defendant. The defendant owns a factory and a considerable tract of land on the east side of Windsor Street in Hartford. The street line in front of the factory *245 is seven feet from the curb, and a four-foot sidewalk is located midway between the two. The employees' entrance is in the north wall of the factory, about fifty feet east of the curb. It opens on an approach which extends westerly to Windsor Street. Flodin, in common with others, was required to use this approach and side entrance in going to and returning from work. These could not be reached except by passing over the sidewalk in front of the defendant's premises and this use of that sidewalk by Flodin was contemplated by the defendant. On February 11, 1943, the streets of Hartford were in a generally icy and slippery condition, and this was true of the sidewalk in front of the defendant's factory. Flodin's work began at 7 o'clock. At about 6:45 that morning, while on his way to work, Flodin slipped, fell and was injured on the public sidewalk directly in front of his employer's factory. The commissioner, and the Superior Court on appeal, concluded that the risks assumed by him were those common to the traveling public and not those arising out of his employment or as incidental thereto, and that the accident did not arise out of and in the course of his employment. The appeal was dismissed and the award for the defendant affirmed.
The plaintiffs do not dispute the general principle, well established in this state, that "employees whose area of employment is within defined limits, are not regarded as in the course of their employment while going to and returning from work upon the public highways; nor do the risks incidental to travel on such highways ordinarily arise out of their employment." Lake v. Bridgeport,
General Statutes, 5226, provides for payment of compensation to an employee for personal injuries "arising out of and in the course of his employment." Section 5223 defines these terms as follows: "The words `arising out of and in the course of his employment,' as used in this chapter, shall mean an accidental injury happening to an employee . . . originating while he shall have been engaged in the line of his duty in the business or affairs of the employer upon the employer's premises, or while so engaged elsewhere upon the employer's business or affairs by the direction, express or implied, of the employer."
The word "premises" has not been defined in Connecticut in connection with this particular statute. Bates v. Connecticut Power Co.,
The word "premises" is less inclusive than "property" and ordinarily does not include the sidewalk in front of the place of employment. 1 Campbell, Workmen's Compensation, 167; Wiles v. American Oil Co.,
This discussion makes any extended consideration of the plaintiff's claim that the use of the sidewalk was a condition of the employment unnecessary. The Connecticut cases are reviewed in Lake v. Bridgeport, supra, and Taylor v. M. A. Gammino Construction Co.,
For the reasons stated we disagree with the conclusions reached in Barnett v. Britling Cafeteria Co.,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.