Title: Evans v. Yankeetown Dock Corp.

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

491 N.E.2d 969 (1986)
Marie EVANS, Personal Representative of the Estate of Oscar Evans, Appellant (Plaintiff below),
v.
YANKEETOWN DOCK CORPORATION, Appellee (Defendant below).
No. 87S04-8604-CV-340.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
April 15, 1986.
Rehearing Denied June 5, 1986.
*970 Rodney H. Grove, Evansville, for appellant.
Gaylon L. Clark, Clark, Statham, McCray, Thomas & Krohn, Evansville, for appellee.
DICKSON, Justice.
This case is presented on appellant's Petition to Transfer. The petition is granted. The opinion of the Court of Appeals reported at 481 N.E.2d 121, is vacated.
The parties' briefs accepted the following underlying facts. Oscar Evans and Harlan Miller were both employees of Yankeetown Dock Corporation. On the morning of June 1, 1977, they were both to be at their work stations at 7:15 a.m. Oscar had arrived at Yankeetown that morning at the usual time, and was drinking coffee with fellow employees in an area of the main repair shop of the Yankeetown premises. The area was equipped with picnic tables and provided by Yankeetown for the use of its employees in accordance with the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 1974. It was customary for Yankeetown employees to gather in this area a few minutes before they were to report to their work stations, and to change into their work clothes. Both Harlan Miller and Oscar Evans had a distance of several hundred yards to walk to reach their work stations from the employee eating area. Between 6:50 and 7:00 a.m., before Oscar Evans had changed into his work clothes, Harlan Miller, apparently due to an alcoholic paranoid delusional state wholly unrelated to his employment, fatally shot Oscar Evans. No claim for workmen's compensation benefits was filed.
Plaintiff-appellant Marie Evans (Evans), personal representative of the Estate of Oscar Evans, deceased, brought a wrongful death action against Yankeetown Dock Corporation (Yankeetown) alleging in substance that Yankeetown, as employer of Harlan Miller, negligently permitted Miller to come upon the Yankeetown premises and "discharge a firearm at the Plaintiff's decedent as he sat on the employer's premises awaiting to begin his work." The trial court subsequently granted summary judgment for Yankeetown based solely upon the exclusivity of remedy provision. Ind. Code § 22-3-2-6, of the Indiana Workmen's Compensation Act.
The Court of Appeals for the Fourth District issued a thoughtful opinion seeking to address, resolve, and simplify the persistent difficulties plaguing the courts in their attempts to interpret and apply certain provisions of the workmen's compensation statutes. In substance, the Court of Appeals reinterpreted the applicable statutes as granting to the Industrial Board exclusive jurisdiction of all claims by an employee against his employer for injury or death by chance, regardless whether arising out of or in the course of employment, whereupon it would then be the function of the Industrial Board to determine whether to grant or deny workmen's compensation benefits, depending on whether *971 or not the injury or death arose out of and in the course of employment. Applying this construction, the Court of Appeals found that the Industrial Board would have exclusive jurisdiction over claims by Evans against Yankeetown, and affirmed the trial court.
The twenty-eight issues claimed by Evans's petition to transfer may be regrouped as follows:
1. Does the exclusive Industrial Board jurisdiction require that the death or injury occur not only "by accident" but also "arising out of and in the course of employment?"
2. Does the term "by accident" as used in the Indiana Workmen's Compensation Act, require an unexpected event?
3. Was summary judgment proper under the facts?
Before addressing these specific issues, we observe that the present system of workmen's compensation in Indiana was essentially established with the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1929. Retention of this basic system by our General Assembly reflects that broad public policies continue to be served thereby. As recognized in 2A Larson, The Law of Workmen's Compensation, sec. 65.11, pp. XX-X-XX-X (1983):
A similar view is also expressed in Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts, sec. 80, pp. 531-532 (4th ed., 1971):
The continuing vitality of a workmen's compensation system not only serves the interests of the injured worker, it also benefits the business community in providing protection from large verdicts and by permitting the business community to more easily predict, quantify and plan for anticipated costs from employee injuries.
The right and responsibility to determine these public policies, and to adopt, improve, refine, and perfect legislation directed thereto, falls not to us but to the legislature. Our role is to construe and apply these enactments so as to carry out legislative intent. Public policy purposes benefiting both business and labor have thus been served by the long-standing approach of Indiana courts to liberally construe workmen's compensation laws. See, Marshall v. Tribune-Star Publishing Co. (1968), 142 Ind. App. 556, 236 N.E.2d 508, affirmed (1969), 251 Ind. 557, 243 N.E.2d 761; Pollock v. Studebaker Corp. (1952), 230 Ind. 622, 105 N.E.2d 513; Blue Ribbon Pie Kitchens Inc. v. Long (1952), 230 Ind. 257, 103 N.E.2d 205; Guevara v. Inland Steel Co. (1949), 120 Ind. App. 47, 88 N.E.2d 398, trans. denied (1950), 228 Ind. 135, 90 N.E.2d 347 (Emmert, J., dissenting); Goldstone v. Kozma (1971), 149 Ind. App. 626, 274 N.E.2d 304; Prater v. Indiana Briquetting Corp. (1969), 253 Ind. 83, 251 N.E.2d 810; Talas v. Correct Piping Co., Inc. (1982), Ind., 435 N.E.2d 22; Sam Winer & Co. v. Spelts (1976), 169 Ind. App. 392, 348 N.E.2d 670.
However, we are not free to construe a statute which is unambiguous, as noted in Spelts, supra, quoting from J.W. *972 Jackson Realty Co. v. Hertzberger (1942), 111 Ind. App. 432, 40 N.E.2d 379:
169 Ind. App. at 395, 348 N.E.2d  at 673. Our ability to effect legislative purpose is necessarily limited to the language of the statutes. We recognize the wisdom declared in Kunkalman v. Gibson (1908), 171 Ind. 503, 509-10, 84 N.E. 985, 987, reh. denied (1909), 171 Ind. 511, 86 N.E. 850, as follows:
The principal statute relied upon by both the trial court and the Court of Appeals is Ind. Code 22-3-2-6, which we find to be clear and unambiguous:
Thus, this statute operates to exclude common law rights and remedies of such employees who are "subject to this act on account of personal injury or death by accident." The exclusion applies to all of those rights and remedies on account of "such injury or death" which expressly refers to the prior term "personal injury or death by accident."
The terms "injury" and "personal injury" are expressly defined in IC 22-3-6-1(e):
Thus, if the injury does not occur by accident or if it does not arise out of and in the course of employment, the injury does not fall within "such injury" in IC 22-3-2-6, and the employee is not excluded from his common law rights and remedies. A person is free to use the courts to resolve disputes with someone who may happen to be his employer, so long that the matter in dispute is not an injury "by accident arising out of and in the course of employment." As illustrated by the example presented in the separate opinion of Judge Conover, concurring in result with the Court of Appeals majority opinion, where an off-duty employee is injured when struck by his employer's truck in the middle of town on his day off, the legislature did not intend that the Industrial Board should have jurisdiction.
*973 The opinion of the Court of Appeals rejects the statutory definition of "personal injury" because of the introductory proviso of IC 22-3-6-1, "unless the context otherwise requires." We disagree. As correctly noted by appellant's brief, in Department of State Revenue v. Crown Development Corp. (1952), 231 Ind. 449, 109 N.E.2d 426, this Court emphasized:
231 Ind. at 456, n. 1, 109 N.E.2d  at 428, n. 1. Likewise, in construing a statute to determine and give effect to the true intent of the legislature, each individual section of a statute must be construed with due regard for all of the other sections of the act, Park 100 Development Co. v. Indiana Dept. of Revenue (1981), Ind., 429 N.E.2d 220, 222-23.
Legislative intent is further indicated by IC 22-3-2-5 which recites that an employer and his workmen's compensation insurance carrier shall be liable to any employee and his dependents "for personal injury or death by accident arising out of and in the course of employment." Similarly, IC 22-3-2-2 requires every employer and employee to pay and accept the prescribed compensation for "personal injury or death by accident arising out of and in the course of employment."
For these reasons, we decline to adopt the view of the Court of Appeals that the phrase "arising out of and in the course of employment" should be ignored as surplusage. We hold that IC 22-3-2-6 excludes all rights and remedies of an employee against his employer for personal injury or death if the following three statutory jurisdictional prerequisites are met:
Actions for employee injuries or death which do not meet each of these prerequisites are not excluded, and may be pursued in the courts.
Appellant Evans urges that the opinion of the Court of Appeals erroneously interpreted the term "by accident" as used in the workmen's compensation statutes. She relies on language from Calhoun v. Hillenbrand Industries (1978), 269 Ind. 507, 381 N.E.2d 1242, stating that to show an accident there must be some untoward or unexpected event. Indiana courts have long wrestled with the unexpected-event/unexpected-result dilemma, both before and since Calhoun.[1]
Professor Larson notes that the "injury by accident" terminology was copied from the British, where it was already clearly settled that where a cause was routine and not accidental, but the effect on the employee was unexpected and therefore accidental, a claim was compensable. Larson, supra, § 38.10, p. 719. He then describes *974 the ensuing lack of consistency seen in current decisions in the United States:
Larson, supra, § 38.20, X-XX-X-XX. Despite these problems, Larson expresses the general rule as:
Larson, supra, § 38.10, 7-18.
We feel that this long-standing controversary can be significantly reduced and perhaps eliminated by resorting to the clear and express language of the enactment. The statutory language "by accident" should be applied literally, rather than reinterpreted by inserting the article "an" as if written "by an accident." In this way both the statutory language and the legislative purposes will be served. As cited by the Court of Appeals below, we agree with Judge White in Inland Steel Co. v. Almodovar (1977), 172 Ind. App. 556, 361 N.E.2d 181:
172 Ind. App. at 564-65, 361 N.E.2d  at 187.
The underlying issue in Calhoun was causation. The opinion correctly stated:
269 Ind. at 511, 381 N.E.2d  at 1244. The necessary existence of a causal connection between the injury and the employment is clearly necessary to qualify for workman's compensation benefits. Donahue v. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. (1985), Ind., 474 N.E.2d 1013; Bowling v. Fountain County Highway Dept. (1981), Ind. App., 428 N.E.2d 80. However, the issue of causation may be addressed when applying the statutory term "arising out of." When determining whether the exclusive workmen's compensation remedy applies to incidents of on-the-job occurrence of pre-existing injury or disease, the resolution of these issues need not be decided by interpretation of "by accident," but rather by application of "arising out of and in the course of employment."
We therefore hold that the statutory term "injury or death by accident," as used in the workmen's compensation laws, means unexpected injury or death. To the extent this clarification is inconsistent with prior holdings, they are overruled.
The remaining issue is whether the trial court was correct in granting summary judgment under the facts presented. In accordance with our resolution of the foregoing issues, Evans's wrongful death action would not be barred by the exclusive workmen's compensation remedy unless the uncontroverted facts establish that the death was (a) by accident, (b) arising out of employment, and (c) arising in the course of employment. Summary judgment should not be granted if facts or inferences give rise to any genuine issue of material fact. All doubts must be resolved in favor of Evans as the party opposing summary judgment. Woodward Insurance Inc. v. White (1982), Ind., 437 N.E.2d 59.
The trial court correctly determined that Oscar Evans died by accident. From the uncontroverted facts of the incident, it is clear that Oscar did not intend or expect to be injured or killed as he was drinking his coffee at the employees' eating area.
To support her position that the exclusive remedy of workmen's compensation does not apply, Evans contends that the death did not "arise out of" the employment. An injury arises out of the employment when there is a causal relationship between the injury and the employment. Donahue, supra.
Significantly, however, Evans's wrongful death action against Yankeetown requires the existence of this employment relationship. The complaint alleges negligence of Yankeetown, as employer of Oscar Evans and Harlan Miller. The gravamen of her tort action is the alleged breach of duty of Yankeetown, as employer. The viability of Evans's wrongful death action is predicated upon a causal connection between the death and the employment, i.e. that the death arose out of employment. Evans cannot now contend otherwise.
Furthermore, we find no Indiana cases, and appellant cites none, upon the question of whether injuries suffered at the hands of an insane fellow-employee are compensable. In analyzing the compensability of injuries resulting from assaults, Larson, supra, § 11.30 uses three classifications: "those that have some inherent connection with the employment, those that are inherently private, and those that are neither, and may therefore be called `neutral'... ." His neutral category comprises assaults which include attacks by "lunatics" and "drunks." According to Larson, a growing majority of jurisdictions consider such neutral assaults to be within the ambit of workmen's compensation. This is particularly true of injuries from assaults by insane co-employees.
Applying the uncontroverted facts and inferences, and resolving factual doubts in favor of Evans, it nevertheless is clear that the trial court correctly determined that the death arose out of the employment.
Finally, as to whether the death arose in the course of employment, the issue is conclusively *976 determined by plaintiff's interogatory answers:
Additionally, Indiana courts have recognized that the workmen's compensation remedies can apply to injuries received before or after work. In Ward v. Tillman (1979), 179 Ind. App. 626, 386 N.E.2d 1003, a tort action between co-employees, the parties agreed that the plaintiff was leaving from work and the defendant arriving, when the accident occurred. Finding the facts not disputed and affording but a single inference, the court affirmed summary judgment for the defendant, finding the workmen's compensation act applicable. Similarly, in Lona v. Sosa (1981), Ind. App., 420 N.E.2d 890, the court said:
420 N.E.2d  at 894. Accidents occurring in the performance of acts which are reasonably necessary to the life and comfort of a workman, although personal, are incidental to employment and compensible under workmen's compensation. Skinner v. Martin (1983), Ind. App., 455 N.E.2d 1168.
In the case at bar, it is undisputed that Oscar Evans arrived at work at the usual time, paused before commencing his duties to drink coffee with fellow employees, as was customary, at the eating area provided by Yankeetown for the employees. Thus, in addition to plaintiff's admissions in the interogatory answers, we find that the uncontroverted facts lead to a single inference that Oscar Evans was in the course of his employment at the time of the accident, as determined by the trial court.
We conclude that the trial court correctly determined that the death of Oscar Evans occurred by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, and that therefore the resulting wrongful death action was barred by IC 22-3-2-6. The trial court is affirmed.
GIVAN, C.J., and DeBRULER, PIVARNIK and SHEPARD, JJ., concur.
[1]  Evans v. Yankeetown Dock Corp., Court of Appeals, supra, (Conover, J., concurring with opinion); Kerchner v. Kingsley Furniture Co. (1985), Ind. App., 478 N.E.2d 74 (Ratliff, P.J., concurred with opinion); Young v. Smalley's Chicken Villa, Inc. (1984), Ind. App., 458 N.E.2d 686 (Neal, J., concurring with opinion); Lovely v. Cooper Industrial Products, Inc. (1981), 429 N.E.2d 274 (Ratliff, J., dissenting with opinion); Calhoun, supra, 269 Ind. at 511-12, 381 N.E.2d  at 1244-45 (DeBruler, J., dissenting with opinion; Hunter, J., concurring in dissent); Ellis v. Hubbell Metals, Inc., (1977), 174 Ind. App. 86, 366 N.E.2d 207 (Hoffman, J., dissenting with opinion); Inland Steel Co. v. Almodovar (1977), 172 Ind. App. 556, 361 N.E.2d 181 (Buchanan, J., dissenting with opinion), transfer denied, 266 Ind. 638, 366 N.E.2d 169 (Pivarnik, J., dissenting to denial of transfer with opinion; Prentice, J., concurring in dissent); Rivera v. Simmons Co. (1975), 164 Ind. App. 381, 329 N.E.2d 39 (White, J., concurring with opinion; Sullivan, J., concurring with opinion); Estey Piano Corp. v. Steffen (1975), 164 Ind. App. 239, 328 N.E.2d 240 (Buchanan, J., concurring with opinion; White, J., concurring in result); Chestnut v. Coca Cola Bottling Co. (1969), 145 Ind. App. 504, 251 N.E.2d 575 (White, J., dissenting with opinion; Sharp, J., concurring in result).