Title: McKinney v. Hardwick Clothes, Inc.

State: tennessee

Issuer: Tennessee Supreme Court

Document:

398 S.W.2d 265 (1966) Hazel McKINNEY v. HARDWICK CLOTHES, INC. Supreme Court of Tennessee. January 5, 1966. Conrad Finnell, Finnell & Thompson, Cleveland, for plaintiff in error. Robert L. McMurray, Bell, Whitson, Painter & McMurray, Cleveland, for defendant in error. PER CURIAM. This was a suit for Workmen's Compensation which was dismissed by the Chancellor. An appeal was perfected, able arguments heard and briefs filed herein. After a thorough checking of the record, and an examination of the authorities, we concur in both the conclusions and the reasoning as set forth in an opinion by Chancellor Woodlee. The case is so fully and clearly stated in that opinion that this Court adopts and incorporates it in this opinion for publication. It is true that we follow the minority rule as set forth in cases in this opinion. This rule probably was first succinctly stated in Smith v. Camel Mfg. Co. cited in the opinion of the Chancellor and reaffirmed some four years later in Bennett v. Vanderbilt University, also cited in the Chancellor's opinion. We see no reason to change this rule due to the fact that the Compensation Act is a creature of the Legislature. The Legislature is presumed to know the interpretations that this Court has placed on its laws. There have been at least seven meetings of the Legislature since this Court put this interpretation on the Workmen's Compensation Law, and the Legislature has not deemed it necessary to change this rule since it was first enunciated, *266 and the statute interpreted by this Court. The Legislature, thus having failed to change the rule as adopted by this Court, it must be presumed, is satisfied with this Court's decisions. For many years Michigan followed the same rule as we have in Tennessee, as is shown from the Michigan case of Daniel v. Murray Corp. of America, 326 Mich. 1, 39 N.W.2d 229, as cited in Bennett v. Vanderbilt University. It was only through action of the Michigan Legislature that a different rule now exists in Michigan. See Freiborg v. Chrysler Corp., 350 Mich. 104, 85 N.W.2d 145. The conclusions of the majority courts and minority courts on the question here involved are shown in Larson's Workmen's Compensation Law, Vol. 1, § 15.41; 58 Am. Jur., Workmen's Compensation, § 221; 99 C.J.S. Workmen's Compensation § 234; and annotations in 49 A.L.R. 424, and 82 A.L.R. 1043. We quote and adopt, as above said, the opinion of the Chancellor thus: