188 N.E. 560 | Ohio | 1933
The facts in this case are not in dispute, and they present the question whether, when Baker sustained the injury resulting in his death, he was in the course of his employment. Baker was an employe of the Hamilton Coke Iron Company. His home was in Hamilton, and he was driving his automobile over a county road, used generally by the public, to his place of employment, and was killed at the intersection of the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at a point fully a quarter of a mile from the entrance to the plant in which he was employed. The employer had no control over the traffic or the means of travel adopted by the employe. The record discloses that, in order to reach his place of *347 employment, it was necessary to cross a number of separate railroad tracks, if he traveled by the shortest route, and that traveling that route be necessarily crossed five interurban and railroad tracks, in addition to street car tracks within the city of Hamilton. It was further disclosed that there was another railroad track between the point of the accident and the plant in which Baker was employed. Baker bad no duties whatever to perform for his employer before reaching the plant, and his travel over the public highway, which was a much-traveled road, was not different from that of the general public using such highway. Baker was therefore in the discharge of no duty connected With his employment at the time of his injury. He was at the time not within the zone of his employment, and the hazard which he encountered was not one growing out of the conditions or environments of his employment or in any wise under the control of his employer.
The benefits of the workmen's compensation fund under the Constitution and the provisions of the statute enacted pursuant thereto are only for injuries occasioned in the course of the workman's employment, and compensation is not authorized for any injury which has its cause outside of and disconnected with the work in which the injured workman was employed.
Some difficulty has arisen in various cases in determining whether under the facts presented the employe was in the course of his employment at the time of his injury. This court had occasion to consider the meaning of the term "in the course of employment" in the early case of Fassig v. State, ex rel.Turner, Atty. Genl.,
The Constitution and the statutes providing for compensation from a fund created by assessments upon the industry itself contemplate only those hazards to be encountered by the employe in the discharge of the duties of his employment, and do not embrace risks and hazards such as those of travel to and from his place of actual employment over streets and highways which are similarly encountered by the public generally.
The principle announced in the Barber case, supra, applied to the facts in this case, governs it, and requires a holding that the decedent was not in the course of his employment when he sustained the injury resulting in his death.
The affirmation of the judgment in the instant case *350
by the Court of Appeals was based upon the decision of this court in the case of Industrial Commission v. Henry,
The right to recover in the case at bar would rest upon the theory that the employe is in the course of his employment from the time he starts from home, notwithstanding he has no duty to perform until he reaches the plant of his employer. This court unanimously held the contrary in Industrial Commission v. Heil,
In addition to the Ohio decisions cited supporting our conclusions in this case, we direct attention to the numerous cases cited in State, ex rel. Gallet, v. Clearwater Timber Co.,
It follows, that the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and final judgment is entered for the plaintiff in error.
Judgment reversed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., ALLEN, STEPHENSON, JONES, BEVIS and ZIMMERMAN, JJ., concur.