Title: Gaston v. SAN ORE CONSTRUCTION CO., INC.
Citation: 206 Kan. 254, 477 P.2d 956
Docket Number: 45,865
State: Kansas
Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court
Date: December 12, 1970

206 Kan. 254 (1970)
477 P.2d 956
RAY D. GASTON and WILMA GASTON, Appellants,
v.
SAN ORE CONSTRUCTION CO., INC., Appellee.
No. 45,865

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed December 12, 1970.
Howard Harper, of Harper, Hornbaker, Waters and Abbott, of Junction City, argued the cause, and Wayne W. Ryan, of Jones and Ryan, of Clay Center, was with him on the brief for the appellants.
Clarence L. King, Jr., of King and Stokes, of Salina, argued the cause and was on the brief for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
HATCHER, C.:
This was an action for wrongful death of a boy sixteen years of age. The defendant's motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' amended petition was sustained and they have appealed.
The over-all question involved is whether the Workmen's Compensation Act provided an exclusive remedy and precluded the plaintiffs from maintaining an action for wrongful death.
Our review is limited by the facts as alleged in the petition.
*255 The gist of the amended petition was that the plaintiffs were the parents and the sole heirs of Gordon Gaston who was sixteen years of age when he was killed. One June 2, 1967, Gordon Gaston was employed by the defendant at Wakefield, Kansas. At that time defendant was engaged in the construction of public roads and other installations for and on behalf of the United States Government in the Milford Dam and Reservoir area near Milford, Kansas. On August 5, 1967, Gordon Gaston was directed by defendant's job superintendent to drive a tractor-trailer truck unit from the job site in the Milford area to a second federal job site of defendant near Glen Elder, Kansas. He was directed to drive the tractor-trailer on and over the public highway system between Wakefield and Glen Elder, Kansas. He undertook to drive the tractor-trailer as directed, and while in the process he was killed as the result of an accident caused by defendant's negligence.
The petition alleged that defendant, in doing work above mentioned, was subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C.A. 203) pursuant to which the Secretary of Labor issued an order holding that the occupation of a motor vehicle driver on any public highway is a hazardous employment for minors between sixteen and eighteen years of age and that such employment is illegal. At the time Gordon Gaston was directed to drive the tractor-trailer, the defendant's superintendent knew Gordon did not have and was ineligible for a chauffeur's license under Kansas law. (K.S.A. 8-237 [3].)
The trial court concluded 
The appellants argue that the Workmen's Compensation Act does not bar the present wrongful death action because the deceased minor was unlawfully employed in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the child labor provisions provided thereunder, and as a truck driver of a semi-trailer truck in violation of the Kansas Motor Vehicle Laws.
*256 Conceding for the moment the validity of appellants' argument that the Workmen's Compensation Act does not prevent a minor from bringing a common law action against his employer where the minor was injured in the course of unlawful employment, do the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the child labor provisions thereunder control as to the legality of employment under the Workmen's Compensation Act? We have held to the contrary. In Neville, Administratrix v. Wichita Eagle, 179 Kan. 197, 294 P.2d 248, we stated at page 203:
We reiterate that the test of whether employment is lawful under the provisions of our Workmen's Compensation Act is determined by the laws of our state and not those of the federal government.
Appellants further contend that Gordon Gaston was unlawfully employed because he was driving the tractor-trailer unit on the highways without a chauffeur's license.
Conceding, for the purpose of this discussion only but not deciding, that a person driving a tractor-trailer unit from one work project to another must have a chauffeur's license, would that render unlawful and void the employment contract for highway construction?
Appellants rely on Lee v. Kansas City Public Service Co., 137 Kan. 759, 22 P.2d 942 and Hadley v. Security Elevator Co., 175 Kan. 395, 264 P.2d 1076.
In the Lee case a boy thirteen years old was injured while employed to deliver milk from a milk wagon during the hours of *257 one o'clock a.m. to five o'clock a.m. An action was brought to recover damages for the injuries. The defendant milk company challenged the action claiming that any liability it owed to the plaintiff would be governed by the Workmen's Compensation Act. In disposing of the question it was stated:
In the Hadley case a boy thirteen years of age was killed while working in an elevator. An action for wrongful death was brought by the sole surviving parent. We stated:
These cases simply hold that where the employment of a thirteen year old boy is prohibited by statute the contractual relationship necessary to bring the parties within the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act cannot exist.
The specific question which we now have before us appears to be, was the employment of Gordon Gaston unlawful because prohibited by the laws of this state?
The word "workman" was defined by the Workmen's Compensation Act (K.S.A. 44-508 [i]) at the time of the accident as follows:
*258 The Act was amended in 1968 to specifically include minors whether legally or illegally employed. However, the amendment is not retroactive.
There can be no question under the provisions of the statute but that the rights of the workman are contractual in nature. We so stated in Neville, Administratrix v. Wichita Eagle, supra, at page 202 as follows:
Gordon Gaston was employed in road construction work. No statute has been cited by the parties, nor do we find anything under the child labor laws of this state, that makes it unlawful for a person who has reached the age of sixteen years to be employed in road construction work.
The contract of employment was for road construction. The fact that the employee may have been in violation of some highway traffic regulation while driving the truck from one highway construction project to another did not void the contract of employment. The driving of the truck was, at most, merely incidental to the employment. The contract of employment remained in full force and effect, and the employee was subject to the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act. (See, Dressler v. Dressler, 167 Kan. 749, 208 P.2d 271.)
K.S.A. 44-510 (c) (28) (now K.S.A. 1969 Supp. 44-510e) provided:
It necessarily results that as the dependents of the minor were entitled to compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act, no cause of action existed in favor of the parents of such minor employee on account of damages resulting from his death.
The judgment is affirmed.
APPROVED BY THE COURT.