Ocean Accident & Guarantee Co. v. Indus. Accident Comm'n

Citations

• 173 Cal. 313

Syllabus

<p>Workmen's Compensation Act—Injury to or Death of Employee—■ Liability of Employer for Accidental Injury to Employee.— An employer is liable for compensation to his employee, under section 12 (a) of the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Stats. 1913, p. 279), when and only when the injury is a personal injury sustained by the employee “by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment,” and subdivision 2 of that section, having* special reference to compensation in the event of death, does not broaden the right to compensation, but makes it more specific by the added declaration that to entitle the representatives of the deceased to recover in the case of death, the employee must not only be “performing service growing out of and incidental to his employment,” but must also be “acting within the course of his employment as such.”</p> <p>Id. — Construction of Statute — Phrases Adopted from English Statute.—When a statute which has received judicial construction by the courts of one state is adopted and re-enacted by another state, it is so adopted and re-enacted in consonance with the construction put upon it by the courts of the first sovereignty. This rule of construction is applicable to such clauses of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of California as were taken literally from the Workmen’s Compensation Act of England.</p> <p>Id.—Injury to Employee Going to or Returning from Work.—Accidental injuries which occur while the employee is going to or returning from his work, are excluded from the benefits of the act, and it is immaterial in this respect whether his journey takes him over public roads or private ways.</p> <p>• Id.—Seaman on Vessel—Injury While Boarding or Leaving Ship.—. A seaman or other employee on a vessel is entitled to the benefits of the act if injured while using the instrumentality provided in either reaching or departing from his ship, and in case no instrumentality at all is provided, will not be excluded from such benefits if he adopts