Tennessee Copper Co. v. Shelton

• Decision Date: 17 October 1931
• Citation: 42 S.W.2d 346
• Parties: TENNESSEE COPPER CO. v. SHELTON.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

42 S.W.2d 346

TENNESSEE COPPER CO. v. SHELTON.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

October 17, 1931.

Appeal from Chancery Court, Polk County; T. L. Stewart, Chancellor.

Suit by the Tennessee Copper Company against Meatie Enriques Shelton, guardian. From the decree, complainant appeals.

Affirmed.

Frantz, McConnell & Seymour, of Knoxville, for complainant Tennessee Copper Co.

D. Sullens Stuart, of Cleveland, for defendant Meatie Enriques Shelton.

CHAMBLISS, J.

Frank Enriques suffered death by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment by the company in May, 1925, leaving as his dependents a widow and two minor childern. Compensation on the basis of 50 per cent. of his average wages was paid to the widow for the benefit of herself and two children. She has remarried, and the sole question presented is whether the payments to the children shall be continued on the basis payable to the widow, or shall be readjusted and reduced to a 40 per cent. basis, applicable to two dependent orphan children, and no widow. Construction is invoked of section 3 of chapter 40 of the Public Acts of 1927, amending section 30, c. 123, of the Public Acts of 1919, which reads as follows:

"Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, "That Section 30 of the Acts of 1919 be, and the same is, hereby amended by striking out Sub-section 9 of said Section, and inserting in lieu thereof the following words, "upon the remarriage of the widow, if there are no children of the deceased employee, the compensation shall terminate, but if there are children under eighteen years, the said compensation, at the time of the remarriage, payable to the widow, shall pass to and be vested in such children."'"

We have italicized the controlling language of the amendment.

It is insisted for the company that the amount of the compensation should be determined as provided by subsection 10 of section 30 of the Public Acts of 1919, c. 123, which reads as follows:

"If the deceased employee leave a dependent orphan, there shall be paid thirty per centum of the monthly wages of deceased with ten per centum additional for each additional orphan, with a maximum of fifty per centum of such wages."

The chancellor held that the 50 per centum compensation, payable at the time of the remarriage, to the widow, passes to the children, as expressly provided in the amendatory act. The company appeals, insisting that it could not have been the intention of the Legislature to compensate dependent children upon...