Cadeau v. Boys' Vocational School

• Decision Date: 06 June 1960
• Docket Number: No. 54,54
• Citation: 103 N.W.2d 443,359 Mich. 598
• Parties: Clarence CADEAU, by his Next Friend, Hubert Cadeau, Plaintiff and Appellant. v. BOYS' VOCATIONAL SCHOOL, Department of Social Welfare, and thie State of Michigan, Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

Page 443

103 N.W.2d 443

359 Mich. 598

Clarence CADEAU, by his Next Friend, Hubert Cadeau, Plaintiff and Appellant. v. BOYS' VOCATIONAL SCHOOL, Department of Social Welfare, and thie State of Michigan, Defendants and Appellees.

No. 54.

Supreme Court of Michigan.

June 6, 1960.

Schwartz & O'Hare, Detroit, for appellant.

Paul L. Adams, Atty. Gen., Samuel J. Torina, Sol. Gen., Lansing, Russell A. Searl, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellees.

Before the Entire Bench, except SOURIS, J.

EDWARDS, Justice.

Clarence Cadeau was committed to the Boys' Vocational School by the Wayne county probate court in April, 1954. On July 7, 1954, while he was operating a water-extracting machine in the laundry at Boys' Vocational School, he received severe and disabling injuries to his left arm. At that time Clarence was 14 years old.

A petition was filed by the boy's father, as next friend, against Boys' Vocational School, the Department of Social Welfare and the State of Michigan, alleging violation of the Michigan statutes governing child labor; alleging negligence in the maintenance of the laundry machinery, and in the training and assignment of Clarence to the particular machine on which he was hurt; and alleging that the laundry was a proprietary function of the Boys' Vocational School.

The petition was heard in full before the court of claims. The circuit judge, sitting in that court, entered an opinion containing complete findings of fact. He did not find negligence as to the defendants in relation to operation of the laundry. He did find that Clarence's own negligence was a proximate cause of his injury, and that his claim was barred thereby. He also found facts which indicated that the laundry operation was a nonproprietary governmental function and, relying upon the majority holding in Richards v. Birmingham School District, 348 Mich. 490, 83 N.W.2d 643, he held the suit barred by the doctrine of governmental immunity. He also held that the statutes governing child labor were not applicable to inmates of the Boys' Vocational School. Only the last of these issues is preserved for our review by this appeal.

The court of claim's opinion bearing on this issue was as follows:

'The petitioner urges that this ward falls under the protection of Act 285 of the Public Acts of 1909 as amended, M.S.A. 17.11, as well as the Hittle Act, being M.S.A. 17.701. These Acts seek to regulate the employment of men, women, and children. The work done by boys confined to the Vocational School is for the purpose of training and for the additional purpose of keeping the institution running on a day-to-day basis. It would be just as logical to say that every 14-year-old student attending manual training classes in the schools of Michigan were subject to Acts regulating employment. In the opinion of the court, the legislature did not intend that a boy committed to the Boys' Vocational School would be subject to these Acts (M.S.A. 17.714).'

Appellant claims that the statutes cited do apply to Boys' Vocational School inmates, that they act to exempt the current claim from the doctrne of governmental immunity, and that violation of these statutes as to a minor is negligence which serves to remove the defense of contributory negligence.

The decisive question on this appeal is, therefore, whether or not the two statutes governing child labor in Michigan (P.A.1909, No. 285, as amended [C.L.1948, § 408.51 et seq., as amended (Stat.Ann.1950 Rev. and 1959 Cum.Supp. § 17.11 et seq.)], and P.A.1947, No. 157 [C.L.1948, § 409.1 et seq. (Stat.Ann.1950 Rev. § 17.701 et seq.)]) apply to inmates of the Boys' Vocational School.

The sections of P.A.1909, No. 285, primarily relied upon by appellant are:

'Sec. 10. No child under 15 years of age shall be employed, permitted or suffered to work in or in connection with any mercantile institution, store, office, hotel, laundry, manufacturing establishment * * * factory or workshop, quarry, telegraph or messenger service within this state during school hours.

'(a) It shall be the duty of every mercantile institution, store, hotel, office, laundry, manufacturing establishment * * * or any person coming within the provisions of this act to keep a register in which will be recorded the name, birthplace, age and place of residence of every person employed under the age of 18 years and it shall be unlawful for any such establishment or person to hire or employ or permit to be hired or employed or suffer to work, any child under the age of 18 years without [unless] there is first provided and placed on file in the business office thereof a permit or certificate. Such permit or certificate shall be issued by the superintendent of schools of the school district in which such child resides, or the county commissioner or schools, or some one duly authorized by him in writing, any of whom shall have power to administer oaths in relation thereto. * * * ¹

'Sec. 11. No person under the age of 18 years shall be allowed to clean machinery while in motion nor employed in any hazardous employment, or where their health may be injured or morals depraved, nor shall females be unnecessarily required in any employment to remain standing constantly * * * Provided, however, That any person over 16 and under 18 years of age may be employed in any occupation, other than the cleaning of machinery while in motion, subject to the following conditions: Such employment shall be for a total of not more than 54 hours in any week nor more than 10 hours in any 1 day. * * *' ²

Those of P.A.1947, No. 157, are as followsd

'Sec. 3. No minor under 1, years of age shall be employed, permitted or suffered to work in, about, or in connection with any gainful occupation, not excepted by this act, unless and until the person employing such minor shall procure from the minor and keep on file a work permit for each minor so employed, issued by the superintendent of schools * * *' ³.

'Sec. 12. The commissioner of labor shall have authority to establish standards not inconsistent with the provisions of this act as to the working conditions of minors under 18 years of age in verious types of employment and as to safety, health and morals * * *' ⁴

The language of these acts certainly prohibits the employment of a 14-year-old boy in a laundry absent the work permit called for therein. ⁵ The significance of the term 'employment' as to these statutes is further emphasized by their titles:

'An Act to provide for the creation of a department of labor; to prescribe its powers and duties; to regulate the employment of labor; to prescribe certain equipment and conditions of employment; and to prescribe penalties for the violation of this act.' (Emphasis supplied.) P.A.1909, No. 285, as amended by P.A.1954, No. 220.

'An Act to provide for the legal employment and protection of minors under 18 years of age; to define legal employment; to prohibit the employment of minors under 18 years of age without work permit, except as otherwise provided in this act; to provide for the issuance and revocation of work permits and age certificates; to provide for the regulation of hours and conditions of employment of minors; and to provide for the enforcement of this act and prescribe penalties for the violation of this act.' (Emphasis supplied.) P.A.1947, No. 157.

Commitments to Boys' Vocational School are governed by P.A.1925, No. 185, as amended (C.L.1948 and C.L.S.1956, § 803.101 et seq., as amended [Stat.Ann.1954 Rev. and 1959 Cum.Supp. § 28.1961 et seq.])

The purpose of those commitments is statutorily spelled out thus:

'The state shall at all times stand in the place and relationship of parent and legal guardian to each boy sent to said boys' vocational school during his residence therein or while under the control thereof; and the superintendent shall represent the state in such relationships. Each boy sent to such school shall be subject to the training, education and discipline herein prescribed by the commission * * *'. C.L.S.1956, § 803.105 (Stat.Ann.1954 Rev. § 28.1965).

The use of the laundry as a part of the vocational training at Boys' Vocational School was recommended to the school by a governor's commission. The superintendent of the Boys' Vocational School testified:

'A. Well, the present program at the school is the direct result of a study, a survey, made under Governor Kelly in 1945. At that time the governor appointed a committee of close to a hundred people, representing all the different areas of interest in child welfare, and they thoroughly surveyed the school and made certain recommendations in the vocational areas, and specifically they recommended that the vocational work for younger boys should be exploratory in nature. For example, the boys whose ages ranged from 12 to 14 years might be expected to explore the various occupational fields represented in the institution.

'Q. Now, did the committee make recommendations as to in what fields vocational training should be furnished? A. They did.

'Q. And what fields did those include? A. Michine shop, painting and decorating, baking, cooking, ground maintenance, printing, drafting, farming, building maintenance, wood-working, sheet-metal work, horticulture, laundering, tailoring, shoe repair, bardering, and auto mechanics.

'Q. Can you tell me, do you have--or has the school set up training in each of those subjects that you just enumerated? A. With teh exception of auto mechanics, they have.'

The training program was described thus by the laundry supervisor:

'A. The program is that any boy starting in on the laundry detail starts in on the flat-work ironer, and works his way up to the other various assignments on a seniority basis. He goes from the flat-work ironers to the extractors, to the driers, and then to the washing machines, giving each boy an opportunity to work each individual job.

'Q. About how long, on the average, is each boy assigned to your laundry? A. We have boys...