Hinson v. Creech

• Citation: 21 N.C.App. 727,205 S.E.2d 606
• Decision Date: 05 June 1974
• Docket Number: No. 748IC160,748IC160
• Parties: Wilbur HINSON, widower of Nannie Mae Hinson, Deceased, Employee-Plaintiff, v. Mr. and Mrs. John W. CREECH, t/a Jackson Egg Farm, Employer-Defendant (Non- Insurer).
• Court: Court of Appeal of North Carolina (US)

Page 606

205 S.E.2d 606

21 N.C.App. 727

Wilbur HINSON, widower of Nannie Mae Hinson, Deceased, Employee-Plaintiff, v. Mr. and Mrs. John W. CREECH, t/a Jackson Egg Farm,

Employer-Defendant (Non- Insurer).

No. 748IC160.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

June 5, 1974.

Certiorari Allowed by Supreme Court Aug. 30, 1974.

Gerrans & Spence by William D. Spence, Kinston, for plaintiff appellant.

White, Allen, Hooten & Hines, P.A., by John R. Hooten, Kinston, for defendant appellees.

VAUGHN, Judge.

General Statute § 97--2(1) specifically exempts employment in agriculture and domestic services from the definition of employment within the meaning of the North Carolina Workmen's Compensation Act. Another exemption is found in G.S. § 97--13(b) which provides that the article shall not apply to farm laborers.

The thrust of plaintiff's argument is that Employer is not really engaged in agricultural pursuits but in the large scale commercial production and marketing of chicken eggs. Plaintiff further contends that cleaning, packaging and delivering eggs is not employment in agricultur or the work of a farm laborer. He argues that the exemptions should be limited to small dirt farms and those engaged in tilling the soil or raising livestock and certainly not exclude an employee who is delivering eggs in a motor vehicle over the public highways of this State.

In Fleckles v. Hille, 83 Ind.App. 715, 149 N.E. 915, the court noted, in evaluating the nature of an egg and poultry business, that agriculture includes 'the raising, feeding and management of livestock and poultry.' The court in Davis v. Industrial Commission, 59 Utah 607, 206 P. 267, observed, after setting forth several examples, that '(e)very standard authority that defines the word 'agriculture' includes in the definition the rearing and care of live stock (sic).' Similarly, the court in Shafter v. Parke, Davis & Co., 192 Mich. 577, 159 N.W. 304, states that 'the raising and care of stock are the ordinary uses to which a farm is put. . . .' The definitions of 'agriculture' and 'farm' found in Webster's Third New International Dictionary are compatible with the above observations.

Department of Labor and Industries v. McLain, 66 Wash.2d 54, 401 P.2d 211, involved a fact situation very similar to the one at hand. In McLain the following facts were stipulated.

'Mr. Hauenstein owned 22 acres of land near Reardan. With the exception of one cow, for family use, the land was devoted exclusively to a poultry and egg-laying business. The land was not cultivated and nothing was produced therefrom. The buildings consisted of Mr. Hauenstein's home, some...