The Topeka Laundry Company v. The Court of Industrial Relations

• Decision Date: 11 July 1925
• Docket Number: 24,958,24,959
• Parties: THE TOPEKA LAUNDRY COMPANY, Appellant, v. THE COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS et al., Appellees. THE TOPEKA PACKING COMPANY, Appellant, v. THE COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS et al., Appellees
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

237 P. 1041

119 Kan. 12

THE TOPEKA LAUNDRY COMPANY, Appellant, v. THE COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS et al., Appellees.

THE TOPEKA PACKING COMPANY, Appellant, v. THE COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS et al., Appellees

Nos. 24,958, 24,959

Supreme Court of Kansas

July 11, 1925

Decided July, 1925.

Appeals from Shawnee district court, division No. 2; GEORGE H. WHITCOMB, judge.

Judgment reversed and cause remanded.

SYLLABUS

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--Restricting Right of Contract--Minimum Wage Law for Women. To the extent that the industrial welfare statute of this state authorizes the promulgation of orders fixing a minimum wage for adult women, the statute is void, for the reason it contravenes the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, as interpreted by the supreme court of the United States in the case of Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525, 67 L.Ed. 785, 43 S.Ct. 394.

John S. Dean, Harry W. Colmery and James E. Smith, all of Topeka, for the appellants.

Randal C. Harvey, of Topeka, for the appellees.

Burch J. Johnston, C. J., Hopkins, J., Harvey, J., dissenting.

OPINION

BURCH, J.:

The actions in the district court were commenced to enjoin enforcement of welfare orders of the court of industrial relations, which fixed minimum wages for adult women employed in laundries and factories. The ground of the actions was that the orders, to the extent stated, and the statute authorizing them, were not within the police power of the state, and were violative of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States. The district court sustained the orders, and plaintiffs appeal.

In 1915 the legislature passed an act, sections 1 and 2 of which read as follows:

"SECTION 1. That the state of Kansas, exercising herewith its police and sovereign power, declares that inadequate wages, long-continued hours, and unsanitary conditions of labor, exercise a pernicious effect on the health and welfare of women, learners and apprentices, and minors.

"SEC. 2. That it shall be unlawful to employ women, learners and apprentices, and minors, in any industry or occupation within the state of Kansas, under conditions of labor detrimental to their health or welfare, and it shall be unlawful to employ women, learners and apprentices, and minors, in any industry within the state of Kansas, at wages which are not adequate for their maintenance, and for more hours in any one day than is consonant with their health and welfare, except as hereinafter provided." (Laws 1915, ch. 275.)

To carry out the purposes of the act, an industrial welfare commission was provided for, to consist of the commissioner of labor and two other persons, one of whom should be a woman (§ 3). The commission was given authority, on its own initiative or on complaint, to investigate wages, hours and sanitary conditions affecting women, learners and apprentices, and minors, in any industry or occupation in the state, and to that end the commission was given authority to call for statements and examine pay rolls and other wage records of employers (§ 5). Employers were required to keep registers of all women, learners and apprentices, and minors, employed by them, in such form as the commission might prescribe (§ 6). In making investigations, the commission was authorized to hold public hearings, at which any employer, employee or interested person might appear and give testimony. Authority to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, compel the production of documents and make and report findings was conferred (§ 7). If after investigation the commission should be of opinion that in any occupation, wages, hours and conditions were prejudicial to the health or welfare of any substantial number of employees, and were inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living and maintain the worker in health, the commission was authorized to appoint a board composed of representatives of employers, employees and of the public (§ 8). The function of this board, if a wage board, was to determine the minimum wage, whether by time rate or piece rate, required in the case of a woman worker of ordinary ability to supply the necessary cost of living, and to report its determination to the commission (§ 9). On receipt of the report of the wage board, the commission was authorized to review it, to resubmit its recommendations to the same board or to a new board, or to approve the report in whole or in part. If any recommendation of the board were approved, the commission was required to give notice of a public meeting at which all persons interested might be heard. After such meeting, the commission was authorized to make an order putting the recommendations into effect. Notice to employers of the order was provided for, and they were required, under penal sanction, to post the order in their places of business, and to obey it (§ 10). The commission was authorized to issue licenses authorizing employment of certain classes of persons at a wage less than that fixed by the commission (§ 12). Any employer dissatisfied with an order affecting his business was authorized to bring suit to enjoin enforcement of it (§ 14). Any woman receiving less than the minimum wage was authorized to bring a civil action for the legal wage, notwithstanding her agreement to work for less, and to recover, besides wages, costs and attorney fees (§ 17).

Pursuant to the statute, an industrial welfare commission was appointed, which in the year 1920 instituted a general investigation of wages, hours and working conditions of women in this state. Cooperation of the women's bureau of the United States department of labor was secured in making the survey. The information obtained in the course of the investigation was compiled, and is contained in a report published in 1921, under the title "Women's Wages in Kansas," as bulletin No. 17 of the women's bureau of the United States department of labor.

At its session in 1921 the legislature abolished the industrial welfare commission and conferred the authority which it had possessed upon the court of industrial relations. Sections 3, 5 and 7 of the act read as follows:

"SEC. 3. That section 3 of chapter 275, Session Laws of 1915, be amended as follows: Sec. 3. That the court of industrial relations may establish such standard of wages, hours and conditions of labor for women, learners and apprentices, and minors, employed within this state as shall be held hereunder to be reasonable and not detrimental to health and welfare: Provided, however, the court may establish different minimum hours and standards for each class in an occupation of different localities in the state, when, in the judgment of the court, the different conditions obtaining justify such action.

"SEC. 5. That section 8 of chapter 275, Session Laws of 1915, be amended as follows: Sec. 8. That if after investigation the court of industrial relations is of the opinion that in any occupation the wages, hours and conditions, sanitary and otherwise, are prejudicial to the health or welfare of any substantial number of the classes of employees named in this act and are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living and to maintain the worker in health, it shall publish a notice, not less than once a week for four successive weeks, in the official state paper, that it will, on a date and at a place named in said notice, hold a public meeting at which all persons will be given a hearing; and, after said publication of said notice and said meeting, the court of industrial relations may, in its discretion, make and render such an order as may be proper or necessary, and require all employers in the occupation affected thereby to observe and comply with such determinations and said order. Said order shall become effective in sixty days after it is made and rendered, and shall be in full force and effect on and after the 60th day following its making and rendition. The court of industrial relations shall, in so far as it is practicable, mail a copy of any such order to every employer affected thereby; and every employer affected by any such order shall keep a copy thereof posted in a conspicuous place in each room of his establishment. That whenever wages, hours or conditions of labor have been made mandatory in any occupation, upon petition of either employers or employees, the court of industrial relations may at its discretion reopen the question.

"SEC. 7. The order of the industrial court under the provisions of this act may be reviewed in the same manner as is now provided for the review of its decisions by chapter 29 of the Session Laws of 1920." (Laws 1921, ch. 263.)

Under an order of the court of industrial relations, the women's division made an investigation relating to the cost of living of wage-earning women in Kansas, the result of which was reported to the court in August, 1921, under the title "Cost of Living Survey of Wage-earning Women of the State of Kansas." Subsequently the court ordered hearings to be held in various cities of the state. At these hearings the two surveys were introduced in evidence, and employers were permitted to cross-examine and to introduce evidence in their own behalf. At the conclusion of the hearings and on April 11, 1922, the court of industrial relations made a preliminary finding that in certain occupations, including laundries and factories, the wages hours and conditions were prejudicial to the health and welfare of a substantial number of female employees, and the wages were inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living and maintain the workers in health. A public hearing was ordered, which, after due notice, was held on May 9, and on May 19, 1922, the orders in controversy were...