204 A.D. 132 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1923
Mrs. Townsend, the employer, appellant, was the wife of a school teacher. Her principal occupation or business was that of housekeeper. She owned a farm which she rented. The farm was about to be occupied by a new tenant. She occupied a small portion of the farm as the residence of herself and her husband, consisting of a dwelling house, a barn and ten acres of land. There was a separate house known as the tenant house and there were other barns and farm buildings, which were located on the farm outside of the property upon which she resided, which were covered by the lease. The claimant was a carpenter and was employed by the defendant by the day to tear down a barn which was on the farm property which had been leased. This barn had been injured in a storm and was in such condition that it could not be used. Her idea was to tear it down and use the material in rebuilding or in repairing other farm buildings. The claimant was thus directed to save all the good lumber and to remove the nails and pile it up. Beyond
The State Industrial Board has found that claimant " was employed as a carpenter by Mary G. Townsend, engaged in the business of demolishing a building for pecuniary gain.” The State Board also found as follows: “ The farm on which the said barn was located was owned by Mary G. Townsend, but leased to a tenant, and she was having the said barn demolished for pecuniary gain, in that she was to utilize the good timber therein for the purpose of using the same in other buildings that she might erect and did erect on property owned by her. Mary G. Townsend was not engaged in the operation of a farm, nor was Charles Millard engaged in the performance of farm labor.”
We do not see how this award can be sustained. If the claimant was not a farm laborer within our decision in Coleman v. Bartholomew (175 App. Div. 122), simply because his employer was not at that time, engaged actually in farming but had rented the farm to another although the work done was “ in anticipation of farming or in aid thereof ” (O’Dell v. Bowman, 189 App. Div. 386, 387), and if the claimant was not an independent contractor although he seems to have represented “ the will of his employer only as to the result of his work, and not as to the means by which it is accomplished” (Hexamer v. Webb, 101 N. Y. 377; Matter of Litts v. Risley Lumber Co., 224 id. 321; Ball v. Estate of Bertelle, 201 App. Div. 768; Bache v. Salvation Army, 202 id. 17), it seems clear that the award cannot stand upon the finding of the State Industrial Board that the said Mary G. Townsend was "engaged in the business of demolishing a building for pecuniary gain ” or that " she was having the said barn demolished for pecuniary gain, in that she was to utilize the good timber therein for the purpose of using the same in other buildings that she might erect and did erect on property owned by her.” She was not engaged in a hazardous trade, business or occupation for pecuniary gain. (Workmen’s Compensation Law, § 3, subd. 5, as amd. by Laws of 1917, chap. 705.) It is true that she was demolishing a building and salvaging the material. (Workmen’s Compensation Law, § 2, group 42, as amd. by Laws of 1918, chap. 634.) It is equally true that it was clearly to her profit to salvage the material for the purpose of using it to erect a new barn or to repair other buildings upon her farm. The fact is, however, that she was not engaged in any “ business ” in so doing. Her principal business was that of housewife, a non
The determination in the ease of Matter of Bargey v. Massaro Macaroni Co. (218 N. Y. 410) has been largely nullified by subsequent amendment of the statute but it is significant to note that the Court of Appeals there said that where a company employed a carpenter to make repairs and improvements to one of its buildings such company “ did not carry on the occupation of constructing, repairing and demolishing buildings for pecuniary gain.” The court added: “This conclusion is obvious beyond the need of discussion.”
The award should be reversed and the claim dismissed, with costs in favor of the appellant against the State Industrial Board.
H. T. Kellogg, Acting P. J., Kiley, Van Kirk and Hasbrouck, JJ., concur.
Award reversed and claim dismissed, with costs in favor of the appellant against the State Industrial Board.