Vietti v. George K. Mackie Fuel Co.

Citations

• 109 Kan. 179
• 197 P. 881
• 1921 Kan. LEXIS 102

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Compensation Act — Construction of Statute. Where obviously necessary to carry out the manifest intention of the legislature, the word “and” may be construed to mean “or,” or conversely, but as used in the provision of the workmen’s compensation act, “that if the workman does not leave any dependent citizens of and residing at the time of the accident and injury in the United States or the Dominion of Canada, the amount of compensation shall not exceed in any case the sum of seven hundred fifty dollars,” “and” may not be construed as the disjunctive “or.”</p> <p>2. Same — Right of Alien Dependents to Compensation — Limitation of Liability — International Treaty. In an action for compensation by the dependents of a workman, who were unnaturalized natives of Italy, but residents of Kansas, it was contended that the quoted statute providing that the compensation to be awarded to noncitizens resident in this country shall be for a less amount than shall be given to citizens of this country, it is held that the statute is repugnant to the letter and obvious intent of the treaty between the United States and Italy entered into in 1913, and the limitation is therefore not enforceable.</p> <p>3. Same — Provision Limiting Liability to Alien Dependents Unconstitutional. The statutory provision in question is also in conflict with that clause of the fourteenth amendment to the Federal constitution which provides that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”</p>