293 N.W. 718 | Mich. | 1940
Plaintiff is the widow and sole dependent of Fred Simpson, deceased, who died as the result of an accidental injury sustained from a fall on February 28, 1939. At the time of the injury he was 77 years of age and was employed as a clerk in defendant Lee Cady's wholesale house in Bay City, Michigan. He left his home at about 7 o'clock in the morning on the day of the accident *462 and traveled by bus to the place of his employment. His bus stopped on the side of the street opposite an entrance to defendant's store and he was helped across the street by a fellow employee, who was also a passenger on the same bus, and a porter of defendant who had seen Mr. Simpson get off. Apparently the fellow employees proffered their help because the streets and sidewalks were very slippery. Defendant's building was constructed flush with the public sidewalk, and there was a single step about 10 inches high leading from the public sidewalk up to the door in the entranceway. The crossing of the street was made safely with the help of the two kindly employees; we are told that when they reached the entrance, Mr. Simpson insisted on proceeding alone. He was within a few inches of the entrance when he extended his right arm to take hold of the door handle. The reach did not result in a grasp, for at that moment his right foot, yet on the sidewalk, slipped, and he fell to the sidewalk. The department found that in reaching for the door his hand extended across the property line of defendant's premises. An award was granted on the ground that the injury took place while the deceased was "in the immediate vicinity of, and in the immediate act of entering upon his employment by the defendant," and that, therefore, the hazard was borne by the employment.
It is conceded that deceased's travel to and from the place where his duties were to be performed was not a part of the employment (Dent v. Ford Motor Co.,
The award is vacated. Costs to defendant.
BUSHNELL, C.J., and SHARPE, CHANDLER, NORTH, McALLISTER, and WIEST, JJ., concurred. The late Justice POTTER took no part in this decision.