Ortiz Cubano v. Arraiza Iglesia
Ortiz Cubano v. Arraiza Iglesia
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The antecedents of this case are stated in the opinion delivered in Arraiza v. Industrial Commission, 85 P.R.R. 13 (1962). In that case we decided that an accident sustained by appellant Juan Ortiz Cubano, while performing work of accidental or casual nature for uninsured employer Enrique
Nevertheless, on February 4, 1963, Ortiz Cubano filed an action for damages against Arraiza in the Superior Court, Bayamón Part, in which he stated that while working as carpenter for the defendant he sustained a “labor accident” when he fell from the roof of a garage when one of the boards which supported it gave way; and that such accident occurred because of the “sole and exclusive fault'and negligence of defendant employer.” Together with the complaint he filed a motion to secure the effectiveness of the judgment without bond, invoking § 16 of the Workmen’s Accident Compensation Act, 11 L.P.R.A. § 17, which, because of its importance in deciding this proceeding, we copy below:
“In all cases of disease, injury, or death occurring to workmen or employees not subject to the provisions of this Act, the*581 liability of said employer is and shall be the same as if this Act did not exist, regardless of any action which the prejudiced workman or employee may have in accordance with the provisions of Section 1802 of the Civil Code in force, as renumbered in 1930, and the action shall be heard by the district court of the judicial district in which the accident occurred.
“In such cases, nothing contained in this Act shall be construed in the sense of depriving the injured workman or employee, or his beneficiaries in case of death, of their right to claim and obtain damages from the employer, in accordance with the injuries suffered by said workman or employee.
“In these actions for damages, and as if this Act were not applicable, the prejudiced workman or employee or his beneficiaries shall have the right, without filing a bond, to attach the property of the employer in the amount determined by the court to insure the satisfaction of such judgment as may be rendered, and such attachment shall include attorney’s fees to be fixed by the Court.”
The defendant asked for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. He alleged that a study of the facts stated in the complaint disclosed that the cause of the action filed was based on § 1802 of the Civil Code, 31 L.P.R.A. § 5141, and that the accident having occurred on February 22, 1960, the action filed on February 4, 1963 was barred because more than a year had elapsed since the claimant had knowledge of the injury, § 1868 of the same legal code, 31 L.P.R.A. § 5298. After the proper proceedings, the trial court sustained said motion. In order to review the judgment of dismissal, we issued a writ of review.
During the course of the trial as well as at the hearing, the plaintiff-appellant has insisted in that the action filed does not fall under the classic provision of the extracontrac-tual fault of the Civil Code. He repudiates that position and admits that the third allegation of the complaint to the effect that the cause of the accident was the fault and negligence of the employer was unnecessary. He maintains this is a sui generis action, the legal foundation of which is
Nothing could prove more helpful than to make history of the legislation on the matter. The first general Act on labor accidents, Act No. 19 of April 13, 1916 (Sess. Laws, p. 51) — which was on a voluntary basis, because employers could elect whether or not to abide by its provisions, § 3— stated in its § 26 that “Nothing in this Act contained shall be interpreted as depriving the injured workman ... of the right to elect to waive the provisions of this Act at any time prior to receiving compensation under this Act and to claim and recover damages from his employer, in accordance with the provisions of the law prior to the enactment of this Act, when the injuries sustained by the said workman were caused by the wilful act or criminal negligence of his employer.” (Italics ours.) We see how it refers to the legislation in force prior to 1916, which is none other than the Employers’ Liability Act, Act of March 1, 1902, 11 L.P.R.A. §§ 131-140, which, though in a limited scope provided compensation for labor accidents occurring under certain circumstances: “Where . . . personal injury is caused to an employee who is himself in the exercise of’due care and diligence at the time: (1) By reason of any defect in the condition of the ways, works, or machinery, connected with, or used in the business of the employer, which arose from or had not been
It may be inferred that when the Act in effect was approved in 1935 and with the exception of any cause of action corresponding to the workman under § 1802 against the employer for his act or omission through his own fault or negligence, there is no other legal provision to hold the employer responsible than the Act of March 1,1902, inasmuch as it is the only one which, the labor-management relationship being present, establishes certain assumptions of causality between the injuries sustained and the accident. The present § 16 does not create a cause of action which did
Furthermore, when the Workmen’s Accident Compensation Act meant to sanction special actions accruing from the existence of the labor-management relationship, it did so in an unequivocal manner. See §§15 and 31, 11 L.P.R.A. §§16 and 32.
In conclusion, in the case of an uninsured employer, like Arraiza, in which the accident is not covered by the Workmen’s Accident Compensation Act because it is casual or accidental or unrelated to its industry or business, and
Although for different reasons, the judgment entered by the Superior Court, Bayamón Part, on March 10, 1964, shall be affirmed.
“Should any employer covered by this act fail to insure the payment of compensation for labor accidents in accordance with this act, any prejudiced workman or employee, or his beneficiaries, may proceed against such employer by filing- a petition for compensation with the Industrial Commission, and may also bring suit for damages against the employer, just as if this act were not applicable. . .
“That when an employee receives a personal injury under any of the conditions enumerated in section 1 hereof, he may bring an action against his employer before the proper district court, to recover damages for such injury. The damages so recovered shall not exceed the sum of two thousand dollars, and in assessing the amount of such damages the court shall take into consideration the degree of culpability of the employer, or of the person for whose negligence the employer is liable hereunder, the sums expended by the employee for medical attendance, for drugs, medicines and similar necessary expenses, and the loss of wages while recovering from the injury; the court shall also take into consideration the physical pain and suffering caused by the injury. If the injury be of such character as to permanently impair the earning capacity of the employee, the court shall include in the damages awarded an allowance for such loss. In case the injury results in a temporary impairment of his earning capacity, the court, in addition to pain and suffering and the expenditures for medical services and drugs, shall take into consideration the average rate of wages which, under ordinary conditions, he might have earned if not injured.”
In a footnote we called attention to the Act of March 1, 1902.
If it were the action provided by § 1802, cf. Arroyo v. Plaza Provision Co., 68 P.R.R. 889 (1948), it would not only have prescribed but no cause of action would accrue within the set of facts which we considered in Arraiza v. Industrial Commission, supra. It is because of this that the appellant has stubbornly tried to rely on his particular interpretation of § 16 and to read into its text a new action which would not require as element the fault or negligence of the employer.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.