Department of Natural Resources v. Industrial Accident Commission
Department of Natural Resources v. Industrial Accident Commission
Opinion of the Court
The petitioner herein seeks to have reviewed and annulled a decision and award of the Industrial Accident Commission, by the terms of which the widow and minor son of one Prank Machado was granted an award by the Commission upon the occurrence of the sudden death of said Frank Machado, who was drowned while acting in the capacity of a volunteer deputy of the Pish and Game Commission of the state of California. The undisputed facts are these: Prior to October 15, 1927, Prank Machado applied to the Pish and Game Commission for appointment to the position of volunteer deputy fish and game warden in the region of Watsonville. The Pish and Game Commis
The primary question of law presented upon this application is as to whether Frank Machado at the time of his death was such an employee of the Fish and Game Commission as to come within the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act relating to public officers and to the class of public officers, the widow, heirs and dependents of which are entitled under the terms of the act to receive an award upon the death of such employee while in the course of performing the services required by his official position. That Frank Machado was a public officer under the provisions of section 642 of the Political Code is conceded by the parties to this proceeding. He was what was known as a volunteer deputy fish and game warden, appointed as such under the provisions of the foregoing section of the Political Code, which permits the Fish and Game Commission to appoint deputies “with or without pay.” That Frank Machado was of the latter class and from and after the time of his appointment up to the time of his death was engaged in the service of said Commission without pay would seem to be apparent from the facts attending his appointment and service, the only sum of money which he received from the Commission
“The term ‘employee’ as used in sections six to thirty-one, inclusive, of this act shall be construed to mean: Every person in the service of an employer as defined by section seven hereof under any appointment or contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens, and also including minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed, and all elected and appointed paid public officers, and all officers and members of boards of directors of quasi public or private corporations, while rendering actual service for such corporations for pay, but excluding any person whose employment is both casual and not in the course of the trade, business, profession or occupation of his employer, and also excluding any employee engaged in household domestic service, farm, dairy, agricultural, viticultural or horticultural labor, in stock or poultry raising and any person holding an appointment as deputy clerk, deputy sheriff or deputy constable appointed for the convenience of such appointee who receives no compensation from the county or municipal corporation or from the citizens thereof for services as such deputy; provided, that such last exclusion shall not deprive any person so deputized from recourse against*17 any private person employing him for injury occurring in the course of and arising out of such employment.”
The history of the various amendments to said statute in so far as the matters referred to in the aforesaid section thereof are concerned, and the course of judicial decisions which apparently resulted in the successive amendments thereof, would seem to shed a clear light upon the intent of the legislature in the adoption of the final amendment of section 642 of the Political Code, and which amendment was in full force and effect at all times during the appointment and service of said decedent. By the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act as originally adopted in 1913 (Stats. 1913, p. 279), it was provided in section 14 thereof that, “The term ‘employee’ as used in sections twelve to thirty-five, inclusive, of this act shall be construed to mean every person in the service of an employer as defined by section thirteen hereof, under any appointment or contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied.” The term “employer” as originally used in said act was given application [see. 13] to “the state and each county, city and county, city school district, and all public corporations therein, and every person, firm, voluntary association and private corporation (including any public service corporation) who has any person in service under any appointment or contract of hire or apprenticeship,” etc. In the case of Mono County v. Industrial Acc. Com., 175 Cal. 752 [167 Pac. 377], wherein the Industrial Accident Commission had made an award against the county of Mono and in favor of the widow of one James P. Dolan, the duly elected and qualified sheriff of said county and who had been killed while in the performance of his official duties as such sheriff, this court in annulling said award held that the provisions above quoted from sections 13 and 14 of said act could not be given application to the sheriff of Mono County for the reason that he was not to be held an employee of the county “under any appointment or contract of hire” as provided by the terms of said act then in force. While said cause was pending before this court the legislature undertook to amend the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Stats. 1917, p. 831) so as to embrace within the meaning of the term “employee” as used therein “all elected and appointed paid public officers.” In the case of County of Monterey v.
Rehearing denied.
All the Justices present concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, DIVISION OF FISH AND GAME v. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT COMMISSION and MARGARET MACHADO
- Status
- Published