Opinion ID: 2286987
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The dictionary definition of employee

Text: Under traditional rules of statutory construction, undefined words are given their plain and ordinary meaning as found in the dictionary to ascertain the intent of lawmakers. Asbury v. Lombardi, 846 S.W.2d 196, 201 (Mo. banc 1993). The word employee is commonly defined as one employed by another, usually in a position below the executive level and usually for wages, as well as any worker who is under wages or salary to an employer and who is not excluded by agreement from consideration as such a worker. WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 743 (1993). To employ means to provide with a job that pays wages or a salary or with a means of earning a living. Id. There is no dictionary definition for employment applicant. These definitions support a finding that a municipal judge is an employee of the City. Under the charter, the City pays its municipal judges a fixed salary and requires that the judges perform their services exclusively for the City. CHARTER OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI §§ 305, 307. Therefore, a municipal judge is employed ... for wages by the City. A municipal judge is likewise a worker ... under wages or salary ... not excluded by agreement from consideration as such a worker. Under the definition of the verb to employ, a municipal judge is provided a job that pays wages or salary. The only ambiguity in the definitions is the language that provides usually in a position below the executive level. The term executive is defined as one who holds a position of administrative or managerial responsibility in a business or other organization. WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 794. A secondary definition includes those belonging to a branch of government that is charged with such powers as ... superintendence of the execution of the laws, which is distinct from the judiciary. Id. Although judges have independent decision-making authority regarding the cases they hear, they are not normally considered in the context of above or below the executive level. This part of the definition simply does not apply. This minor ambiguity in the definition does not disqualify a judge from being an employee when all other portions of the definition of employee apply to Kansas City municipal judges. [7]