May v. Covington
| Decision Date | 24 October 1939 |
| Docket Number | 28811. |
| Citation | 95 P.2d 233,185 Okla. 576,1939 OK 429 |
| Parties | MAY v. COVINGTON et al. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. The "Workmen's Compensation Law," O.S.1931, section 13348 et seq. as amended, 85 Okl.St.Ann. § 1, et seq. provides a complete, comprehensive and exclusive method for administration of its provisions and for the enforcement of any and all awards made thereunder.
2. The liability imposed by section 9913, O.S.1931, 18 Okl.St.Ann. § 504, upon stockholders of the class of corporations therein designated is statutory and not contractual and can be imposed only by persons who bring themselves within the terms of said statute.
3. The fundamental rule of construction of legislative enactments is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature as expressed in the statute under consideration.
Appeal from District Court, Coal County; Roy Paul, Judge.
Action by Charles E. May against J. M. Covington and others to enforce payment of an award made by the State Industrial Commission as a liability imposed upon stockholders of mining and manufacturing corporations. Judgment for defendants, and the plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
Jas. R Wood, of Coalgate, for plaintiff in error.
G. T Ralls, of Coalgate, for defendants in error.
The question which this appeal presents for determination is whether an award of compensation made by the State Industrial Commission, to an employee of a mining or manufacturing corporation, for a disability sustained by the employee as the result of an accidental personal injury, may be enforced under a provision of the statute which imposes individual liability upon stockholders of corporations of a designated class for debts of such corporations due to mechanics workmen and laborers employed by them.
On June 28, 1937, the State Industrial Commission made an award in favor of the plaintiff in error, hereafter referred to as plaintiff, against the Keystone Coal and Mining Company for a disability which he had sustained while in its employ. This award was not paid and a general execution issued thereon, after a certified copy had been duly transcribed to the district court of Coal County, was returned unsatisfied. Thereupon this action was commenced against the defendants in error, hereafter referred to as defendants, and another not here involved to compel them as stockholders of said corporation to pay such award. The defendants denied liability generally and specifically and pleaded the bar of the statute in limine. The cause was tried to the court without the intervention of a jury and resulted in a judgment in favor of the defendants. Motion for new trial was overruled and the plaintiff has perfected this appeal.
It is the contention of the plaintiff that an award made to an injured employee pursuant to the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Law, O.S.1931, section 13348 et seq. as amended, 85 Okl.St.Ann. § 1 et seq., is compensation for loss of wage earning capacity and not reparation for injuries sustained and that therefore the liability thus created arises ex contractu and not ex delicto and hence constitutes a debt of the corporation and where the corporation is one organized for mining or manufacturing liability is imposed upon the stockholders when satisfaction cannot be obtained by general execution.
The plaintiff bases his claim primarily upon section 9913 O.S.1931, 18 Okl.St.Ann. § 504, the pertinent portion of which reads as follows: "The stockholders of any corporation formed for the purposes mentioned in this article shall be jointly and severally liable, in their individual capacities, for all debts due to mechanics, workmen and laborers employed by such corporation, which said liability may be enforced against any stockholder by an action at any time after an execution against such corporation shall be returned not satisfied: Provided,...
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