Swedish Hosp. of Seattle v. Department of Labor and Industries

• Decision Date: 03 January 1947
• Docket Number: 29890.
• Citation: 26 Wn.2d 819,176 P.2d 429
• Parties: SWEDISH HOSPITAL OF SEATTLE et al. v. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

176 P.2d 429

26 Wn.2d 819

SWEDISH HOSPITAL OF SEATTLE et al. v. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES.

No. 29890.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

January 3, 1947

Proceeding by the Swedish Hospital of Seattle and others, opposed by the Department of Labor and Industry to determine the constitutionality of a statute. From an adverse judgment, the Department appeals. The Tacoma Community Chest and affiliated agencies filed petitions to intervene.

Affirmed.

Appeal from Superior Court, King County; Roger J. Meakim, judge.

Smith Troy, Harry L. Parr and J. Anton Sterbick, Jr., all of Olympia, for appellant.

Henry Elliott, of Seattle, for respondents.

Wettrick Flood & O'Brien, of Seattle, amicus curiae for Sisters of Charity of Providence.

ROBINSON Justice.

The department of labor and industries of the state of Washington, hereinafter called the department, prosecutes this appeal from a judgment entered in the superior court of King county, holding that chapter 89, Laws of 1945, p. 243 (Rem.Sup.1945, § 7692-1), is unconstitutional. The respondents, listed in the above caption for the purpose of indicating in the briefest possible manner the diverse charitable activities which the act purports to affect, are Seattle institutions only. The act, of course, applies to all similar organizations throughout the state. Furthermore, but for the indulgence of the department the list would probably have included many of Seattle's churches. The act is unique in its brevity, and, omitting merely formal parts reads as follows:

'An Act giving workmen's compensation benefits to persons engaged in hazardous and extrahazardous occupations in charitable institutions. * * *

'Section 1. Every person employed in a hazardous and/or extrahazardous occupation by an individual, firm, association or corporation operating a charitable or non-profit institution, enterprise business or establishment, shall be entitled to the benefits of chapter 74, Laws of 1911, and all amendments thereto relating to compensation for injured workmen.'

It will be noted that, although the act does not in terms purport to amend any existing law, it (1) purports to extend the benefits of a series of former acts to workmen engaged in hazardous, as well as extra-hazardous, occupations; (2) makes no attempt to define or distinguish between hazardous and extrahazardous occupations; and (3) gives notice in its title that it applies only to employees of 'charitable institutions,' but, in the body of the act, includes every person employed in a hazardous or extrahazardous occupation 'By an individual, firm, association or corporation operating a charitable or non-profit institution, enterprise, business or establishment, * * *.' (Italics ours.)

It is not to be wondered at that the administrative department, charged with the enforcement of the act, was faced with perplexing, if not insoluble, problems. On April 12, 1945, the department issued the following order:

'To All Branch Offices:

'Every person employed in a hazardous and/or extrahazardous occupation by an individual, firm, association or corporation operating a charitable or non-profit institution, enterprise, business or establishment, shall be entitled to the benefits of Pierce's Perpetual Code 702 to 718, Chapter 74, Laws of 1911, and all amendments thereto relating to compensation for injured workmen.

'The Department has decided to create a new class to include all of the new contributors created under this law. The new class is 60-2 and the 1945 rates will be $.004 per workman hour for industrial insurance and $.002 per workman hour for medical aid, effective June 6, 1945. For your guidance we are listing a few answers to possible questions.

'(1) All employees of such organizations that receive remuneration in any form are to be included.

'(2) All employees, regardless of their duties, are to be reported under the one class.

'(3) Churches and church organizations are exempt.

'(4) The articles of incorporation or the by-laws of such organizations should be consulted to determine whether or not any organization is non-profit. 'We suggest that you contact all such organizations in your district and attempt to have all of them reporting when the new law takes effect.

'H. D. Graves,

'Auditor.'

(This cause originated in a proceeding instituted by the department, attacking the legality of the above order. The joint board ruling sustaining the order was appealed by the now respondents to the superior court which entered the judgment holding the act unconstitutional, from which judgment this appeal is prosecuted.)

It will be noted that the order directs (1) that every employee of a charitable or non-profit institution, enterprise, business or establishment is to be included whether his work is hazardous or extrahazardous, and (2) that they are all placed in one class, and the same rate of contribution is provided as to all, that is, $.004 per workman hour for industrial insurance and $.002 per workman hour for medical aid, this whether the individual workman operates a power buzz saw or a fountain pen. Furthermore, although it is indisputable that a church is, as a matter of law, a charitable institution, it is ordered that: '(3) Churches and church organizations are exempt.'

It was also alleged by the respondents that, in due course, they received letters from the department, all of which were alike except as to the address. One of these letters was put in evidence, and reads as follows:

'Seattle General Hospital

'5th and Marion

'Seattle, Washington

'Gentlemen:

'The 1945 Session of the Washington State Legislature recently passed House Bill No. 107, which was signed by the Governor, making it compulsory for charitable organizations to come within the scope of the Workmen's Compensation Act.

'The above amendment reads as follows: [Here follows the complete eight-line text of the act which we have heretofore quoted, and the letter continues.]

'This amendment which is now a part of the law makes it compulsory for such organizations to report and pay premiums on any employees they may have whose duties fall under the extrahazardous definition of the law as it now exists.

'In order to comply with the new provisions of the act, as outlined above, we are sending this letter to all organizations listed under the above category requesting that they immediately contact our Seattle office, 1318 Smith Tower, Seattle (4) Washington, Telephone No. EL 2914, furnishing the necessary information for establishing their account with this Department.

'Yours very truly,

"Paul G. Thomas'

'District Supervisor'

The appellant, in its opening brief, makes nine assignments of error, five, to various findings of fact, and the remainder, to the four conclusions of law upon which the judgment appealed from is predicated. But the majority of these assignments of error are abandoned by the very frank statements made by the appellant in its reply brief. We quote from that brief as follows:

'The legislature in its wisdom by Chapter 89 after finding men and women working at machinery and engaging in hazardous and extrahazardous occupations decided that these workers should have the same insurance as others who were doing the same kind of work but were working for employers who made a profit. This Chapter 89 is entirely supplemental and additional to the workmen's compensation act and every part of the same. Because you add to a thing it is not necessary to amend that thing. Chapter 89 added and did not amend.' Appellant's Reply Brief, p. 7.

'Chapter 89 is supplemental and not an amendment. Chapter 89 is complete in itself it has only one purpose and that purpose only to bring in the men and women who receive pay from charitable institutions for working around machinery or as janitors or in hazardous occupations.' (Italic ours.) Appellant's Reply Brief, p. 13.

Conclusion of Law No. 11, which is assigned as erroneous, reads as follows: 'That the Order issued by the Department of Labor and Industries over the signature of H. D. Graves, its auditor, under date of April 12, 1945, purporting to be in pursuance of said Chapter 89, is invalid and of no force and effect.'

It is clear, on the basis of the position taken by the appellant in its final brief, to wit, that the sole and only purpose of the act is to bring in the men and women who act as janitors or work around machinery in charitable institutions, or in hazardous occupations, that Conclusion of Law No. 11, as above set out, is correct; for, the order of April 12, 1945, not only directed an assessment as to every employee of every individual, firm, association or corporation operating a charitable institution, enterprise, business or establishment, but also to every employee of any individual, firm, association or corporation operating a non-profit institution, enterprise, business or establishment receiving remuneration in any form.

It further follows, and for the same reason, that Conclusion of Law No. III, which is assigned as erroneous, is a correct conclusion. It reads as follows: 'That the Classification 60-2, attempting to be set up under said Chapter 89 and in said Order dated April 12, 1945, is invalid and of no force and effect.'

It is also assigned that Conclusions Nos. I and IV are erroneous. These read as follows:

'I. That Chapter 89 of the 1945 Session Laws of the State of Washington is unconstitutional and invalid.'

'IV. That all contributions collected and received by the defendant under and in pursuance of said Chapter 89 and said Order of April 12, 1945, and said Classification 60-2 have been unlawfully collected and received and should be returned and repaid to the persons from whom the same have been collected and received.'

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