Case Title: Hensley v. Carl Graham Glass

Citation: 226 Kan. 256, 597 P.2d 641

Docket Number: 50,001

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1979-07-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
226 Kan. 256 (1979)
597 P.2d 641
IVA J. HENSLEY, Widow of Elmer Wallace Hensley, Deceased, Appellee,
v.
CARL GRAHAM GLASS, a division of SHERWIN-WILLIAMS, and LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellants.
No. 50,001

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed July 14, 1979.
Douglas D. Johnson, of Kassebaum & Johnson, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellants.
George E. McCullough, of McCullough, Wareheim & LaBunker, of Topeka, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
HOLMES, J.:
This is a workmen's compensation appeal from a Sedgwick County district court judgment affirming an order of the workmen's compensation director which allowed death benefits to the claimant-appellee. The original appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeals and we granted a petition for review.
On August 11, 1976, Elmer Wallace Hensley was employed by Carl Graham Glass. On this day, Mr. Hensley and other employees were installing glass around air conditioners on the roof of a parking garage adjacent to Page Court in downtown Wichita, Kansas. Shortly before 3:00 p.m. a sniper, subsequently identified as Michael Soles, began firing rifle shots from a balcony on the 26th floor of the nearby Holiday Inn. Ten individuals at various locations in the immediate area were killed or wounded. Mr. Hensley was struck and killed by the sniper fire while working on the nearby roof. There was no connection between the sniper and any of his victims.
Iva J. Hensley, claimant-appellee, is the widow of the deceased. On October 12, 1977, claimant was awarded workmen's *257 compensation benefits by an examiner. The director on review and the district court affirmed this award. The one substantive issue in the lower courts and in this Court, on appeal, is whether the injury to claimant's decedent arose out of his employment as required by K.S.A. 1978 Supp. 44-501, which provides in part:
Before addressing the merits of the appeal, we must first consider the dismissal by the Court of Appeals. Hensley v. Carl Graham Glass, 3 Kan. App.2d 57 (1979). The judgment of the district court was rendered February 21, 1978, although the journal entry was not filed until March 20, 1978. Appellants filed their notice of appeal on April 6, 1978. The appeal was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction on the grounds it was not timely filed within twenty days of the order of the district court as required by K.S.A. 1978 Supp. 44-556. In its opinion the court stated:
The 1979 session of the Legislature amended K.S.A. 1978 Supp. 44-556(c), effective April 24, 1979, to read:
The purpose of the amendment was to conform the time for appeal in workmen's compensation cases to that in other civil *258 actions under K.S.A. 60-258 and 60-2103. The amendment specifically provides that it shall apply to any workmen's compensation case "pending on the effective date of this act." The decision of the Court of Appeals dismissing the appeal in this case is reversed.
Having determined that this court has jurisdiction, we turn to the merits of the appeal. The sole issue is whether claimant's decedent's injury and resulting death "arose out of" his employment. It is well-settled that "arising out of" and "in the course of" represent two separate requirements which must be satisfied before compensation is allowed. 1 Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law § 6.10 (1978). This court recognized this dichotomy in Siebert v. Hoch, 199 Kan. 299, 428 P.2d 825 (1967):
There is no question but that Hensley's death occurred during the course of his employment and neither party makes any argument to the contrary.
At the outset we pause to note the oft-stated general rule that the workmen's compensation act is to be liberally construed in favor of the workman and compensation is to be awarded where it is reasonably possible to do so. Odell v. Unified School District, 206 Kan. 752, 481 P.2d 974 (1971).
There are three general categories of risks in workmen's compensation cases: (1) those distinctly associated with the job; (2) risks which are personal to the workman; and (3) the so-called neutral risks which have no particular employment or personal character. The chance of being struck by sniper fire is not an ordinary risk associated with glass installers nor was the shooting of Hensley motivated by any personal connection with the sniper. The sniper's assault on Hensley falls into the category of neutral risks. See 1 Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law, § 7 (1978).
In Kansas there have been several workmen's compensation assault cases beginning with Stark v. Wilson, Receiver, 114 Kan. 459, 219 Pac. 507 (1923). In Stark a death by stabbing of a *259 street-car conductor was held compensable. The court based its award upon the theory that robbery is a hazard incident to employment that requires the employee to possess money.
This same analysis was followed in Phillips v. Kansas City, L. & W. Rly. Co., 126 Kan. 133, 267 Pac. 4 (1928), where the deceased was bludgeoned to death while selling tickets for the railroad. Again, the job entailed handling money thereby inviting a robbery.
In Covert v. John Morrell & Co., 138 Kan. 592, 27 P.2d 553 (1933), a traveling salesman, while in the course of his employment, received eye injuries from a chunk of mud intentionally thrown through his windshield. The court denied compensation because such an injury had no causal connection to the employment. Appellants rely heavily on Covert wherein the Court stated:
In other traveling salesmen or truck driver cases where the injury was accidental, rather than intentional, this court has allowed compensation. Kennedy v. Hull & Dillon Packing Co., 130 Kan. 191, 285 Pac. 536 (1930); Wetlaufer v. Howse, 146 Kan. 500, 71 P.2d 879 (1937); Stapleton v. State Highway Comm., 147 Kan. 419, 76 P.2d 843 (1938). Claimant cites these cases as indicative of a more liberal "arising out of" standard than applied in Covert.
Next in the line of assault cases is Siebert v. Hoch, 199 Kan. 299, 428 P.2d 825 (1967), in which a milkman was shot and killed while asleep in his employer's office at night. Although the milkman was in charge of collecting money, there was no evidence of a burglary.
Finally, the case of Craig v. Electrolux Corporation, 212 Kan. 75, 510 P.2d 138 (1973), is one in which a salesman whose job required handling money was shot and killed while waiting in a car for a co-worker. The court allowed compensation.
In the case now before the Court the workmen's compensation examiner stated:
The examiner relied upon the "act of God" case of Faulkner v. Yellow Transit Freight Lines, 187 Kan. 667, 359 P.2d 833 (1961), in which a truck driver was killed at a gasoline station when it was struck by a tornado. The driver, having been involved in a minor accident, contacted his supervisor who ordered him to remain at the station until someone from the driver's company could get there. In Faulkner we held:
In the present case the director on review did not rely on Faulkner but based his holding solely on the assault cases. He stated:
The trial court affirmed and adopted as its judgment the order of the director. Considering, as we must, that the workmen's compensation law is to be liberally construed in favor of the workman we find no error in the trial court's determination.
The order of the Court of Appeals dismissing the original appeal is reversed and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
SCHROEDER, C.J., and McFARLAND, J., dissenting.