Court Opinion

ID: 9855739
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:30:03.228967+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:36:39.298247
License: Public Domain

DUNN, Justice
(dissenting).
I join Justice Fosheim’s dissent.
SDCL 61-1-1(9) defines wages as “all remuneration paid for services, including commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all remuneration paid in any medium other than cash . . . . ” Hemenway received 3½ cents per gallon for each gallon of gasoline sold from his station. The 3½ cents was remuneration for the services he provided for Balhorn-Moyle including working at the station full-time, collecting payment from the customers, and making a daily accounting to Balhorn-Moyle.
The majority opinion also alleges that the word “commission” as used in the statute modifies the phrase remuneration for services. This is not correct. Rather, the terms “commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all remuneration paid in any medium other than cash” are specific examples of “remuneration paid for services.” Even Balhorn-Moyle agrees that a commission is involved here, and thus the 3½ cent remuneration qualifies as a wage.
*485As Justice Fosheim’s dissent indicates, Hemenway is under considerable control and direction from Balhorn-Moyle, therefore the Hemenway/Balhorn-Moyle relationship would not meet the SDCL 61-1-11 three-part test.