176 N.E. 895 | Ill. | 1931
Appellant, Fred Landry, a minor, by his next friend, Henry Landry, brought suit in the superior court of Cook county against appellee, E.G. Shinner Co., Inc., for *581 personal injuries. A demurrer was sustained to appellant's declaration, and appellant electing to stand by it, judgment in bar of the action was entered, from which an appeal was taken to this court, the constitutionality of a statute being involved.
Appellee in its brief and argument states: "For the purposes of this appeal it may be conceded that on July 21, 1928, when the plaintiff was fifteen years old, he was injured while in defendant's employ; that in such employment the plaintiff was required to clean a certain meat-chopper, and that his employment in that capacity was absolutely prohibited by the Child Labor act of 1917 as amended in 1921, which was then in force. It is also not disputed that the enterprise in which the plaintiff was employed was one to which the Workmen's Compensation act of 1927 applied, and that if the plaintiff had been an adult no right of action at law would have existed."
Section 5 of the Workmen's Compensation act of 1927 is as follows:
"Sec. 5. Term employee defined — The term 'employee' as used in this act, shall be construed to mean * * *
"2. Every person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including persons whose employment is outside of the State of Illinois where the contract of hire is made within the State of Illinois, and including aliens, and minors who, for the purpose of this act shall be considered the same and have the same power to contract, receive payments and give quittances therefor, as adult employees," etc.
Paragraph (k) of section 8 of the same act is as follows: "In case the injured employee is under sixteen years of age at the time of the injury and is illegally employed, the amount of compensation payable under paragraphs b, c, d, e and f of this section shall be increased fifty percentum, provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to repeal or amend the provisions of an act concerning *582 child labor, approved June 26, 1917, as subsequently amended relating to the employment of minors under the age of sixteen years."
If these provisions are valid appellant's remedy was under the Workmen's Compensation act and the demurrer was properly sustained.
It is contended by appellant that paragraph (k) of section 8 is unconstitutional as being contrary to public policy, and that the policy of preserving the health and lives of children by forbidding their employment in certain industries dangerous to their health, their lives or their limbs was first adopted by the legislature of the State of Illinois on June 17, 1891, and that later acts covering this same subject, extensively and with considerable detail, show that the protection of children under these circumstances has been the policy of this State on the subject ever since. The public policy of a State is to be found embodied in its constitution, its statutes, and, when these are silent on the subject, in the decisions of its courts. The public policy of a State, when not fixed by the constitution, is not unalterable but varies upon any given question with changing legislation thereon, and any action which by legislation, or, in the absence of legislation thereon, by the decisions of the court, has been held contrary to the public policy of the State is no longer contrary to such public policy when such action is expressly authorized by subsequent legislative enactment. (People v. City of Chicago,
Section 13 of article 4 of the constitution of this State provides: "No act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title." It is contended by appellant that the first part of paragraph (k) of section 8, by providing for compensation for minors illegally employed, repeals the Child Labor laws of *583
this State without making any reference to such repeal in the title of the act. He cites Galpin v. City of Chicago,
It is contended by appellant that paragraph (k) of section 8 of the Workmen's Compensation act is in direct conflict with section 5 of the same act, as by section 5 the term "employee" is restricted to persons in the service of another under contracts of hire, express or implied, and by paragraph (k) the term "employee" is applied to one under sixteen years of age who is illegally employed at the time of the injury, and that in cases arising under paragraph (k) there can be no contract of hire. Section 5 of the act, prior to its amendment in 1927, included "minors who are legally permitted to work under the laws of this State." By the amendment of 1927 the words "who are legally permitted to work under the laws of this State" were stricken out, and by the terms of the amendment it was made to apply to every person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, *584
including minors." The principal object in construing a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature. (Fowler v. Johnston City and Big Muddy Coal Co.
Appellant cites DeKam v. City of Streator,
A contract of hiring a minor in violation of the Child Labor law is an illegal contract, and while it is commonly called void it is not absolutely void in all its aspects. If it were, then no claim for damages could be based on injuries received by a minor while performing services under such contract. It is void in the sense that it is unenforceable by either party to it, but it is not absolutely void in all of its aspects with relation to damages resulting to the minor through the performance of services under such illegal contract of hiring. The contract of hiring alleged in the declaration was an illegal contract and unenforceable by either party and the services rendered under it were rendered under a contract — i. e., an illegal contract — which was not absolutely void but had sufficient virility to fix the relation between appellee and Fred Landry as that of master and servant. The intention of the legislature is clearly expressed in the language which it has used, and it is clear from such language that it was its intention that paragraph (k) of section 8 should apply to all minors and not be limited to minors who were legally permitted to work under the laws of this State. *586
Appellant's remedy being under the Workmen's Compensation act and not by a suit at law, the court properly sustained the demurrer to the declaration and entered judgment in bar of the action.
The judgment is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.