181 N.E. 809 | Ohio | 1932
The question to be determined in this case is whether Kasari was, at the time of his injury, in the course of his employment, and in its last analysis it must be ascertained whether his approach to the plant of the employer, after reaching the premises of the employer, but before reaching the plant, brings him within the hazards of the employment. In deciding the instant case it is not necessary to declare a universal rule that the hazards begin in all instances at the point where the employe crosses the line of the employer's premises. The extent of the grounds of the employer and the remoteness or proximity of the plant to the place of entrance, and many other elements, may enter into the inquiry. In the instant case the entrance to the employer's premises was not sufficiently remote to cause the decision to turn upon that point.
In employers' liability cases the Supreme Court of the United States has made declarations which have a bearing upon this inquiry. In Erie Rd. Co. v. Winfield,
It is not necessary, however, to go beyond the decisions of this court. In Industrial Commission v. Barber,
It is true that there were certain hazards in that case which do not exist in the instant case. There were no separate sidewalks, but on the other hand pedestrians and vehicles traversed a common roadway. This fact, however, does not avoid the obvious holding in that case that the hazards do begin before the employe has reached the plant, and even before he has reached the premises. The further fact that the employer in that case had a certain control over the zone outside of the enclosure, and that the employer failed to provide separate sidewalks for pedestrians, is not decisive or even important. The most that could be said in the instant case is that the employe did not exercise due care in crossing from one sidewalk to the other. But due care, or want of it, has no relation whatever to the recovery of ordinary compensation for accidents in industry. Negligence is only considered where it is sought to add a penalty to the ordinary award. It is urged in argument, on behalf of the Industrial Commission, that Kasari would not have been killed if he had not attempted to cross the roadway. It would be difficult to say on a reading of this record that his injuries were due solely *414 to the fact of his attempting to cross from one sidewalk to the other. But if that conclusion were inevitable it would not defeat recovery. The contributory negligence of the employe does not defeat a recovery, unless the injury be purposely self-inflicted.
In this case the court of common pleas found that the claimant was entitled to participate in the fund. The Court of Appeals not only reversed that judgment, but rendered final judgment in favor of the Industrial Commission. In any event, the Court of Appeals erred in entering final judgment in favor of the Industrial Commission, unless there was no evidence to support the judgment of the trial court. Bridgeport Bank Co. v.Shadyside Coal Co.,
Judgment reversed.
MATTHIAS, DAY, ALLEN, KINKAD, and STEPHENSON, JJ., concur.
JONES, J., concurs in the judgment. *415