Red Arrow Bonded Messenger Corp. v. Industrial Accident Commission

NOURSE, P. J.

In this application to review an award of compensation the basis for the several grounds of attack upon the award is that the employee was not injured during the course of his employment. The respondent commission

[560]

in its answer concedes that petitioner’s statement of facts is correct, and the following

résumé

is taken from the petition.

Thomas O ’Brien, a fifteen year old schoolboy, was employed by the Red Arrow Bonded Messenger Corporation as a bicycle delivery messenger for four hours a day after school. His pay was on a commission basis, with a minimum guarantee of 25 cents an hour, or $1 for a four-hour day. On this part-time basis he was allowed no time off for meals, and he punched a time card at the beginning and end of each errand. At the close of each day he had instructions to turn in the uniform and bicycle supplied to him by the employer at the main office located at 309 Mason Street between Geary and O’Farrell Streets in San Francisco. On the fourth day of his employment O’Brien was instructed to deliver a package to Sea Cliff and one to 43d Avgnue between Balboa and Cabrillo Streets, and return “as soon as possible”. After delivering the last package to the latter address the direct and the shortest way back to the office would have been down Geary Street to Mason Street; O’Brien went down Fulton Street, and when he got to Masonic Avenue he branched south of the direct route towards his home in order to get some food. He was then sixteen blocks south of the direct route of Geary Street which would have led him back to the place of employment. After eating at home, he started back to the office and collided with an automobile at Market and Brady Streets. He received a brain concussion, a fracture of the cervical vertebra and body bruises. The Industrial Accident Commission first dismissed the matter for lack of jurisdiction, but on a rehearing found that 0 ’Brien had sustained injury in the course of and arising out of his employment; he was granted $4.17 a week until the termination of his disability in addition to the medical expenses incurred.

The question presented for review is whether the messenger’s injuries arose out of and in the course of his employment or whether he was at the time on a detour for purposes personal to himself. The respondent commission seeks to sustain the award upon the ground that, since the messenger was on his way to the employer’s office to return the badge and bicycle pursuant to instructions, he must be deemed to have been in his employer’s service when the injuries occurred. The petitioner contends that the deviation to procure a meal having been unauthorized and contrary to