Arabian American Oil Co. v. Industrial Accident Commission

WOOD, J. Petition for a writ of review whereby it is sought to annul an award of the Industrial Accident Commission.

Petitioner and Jean Frances Brown entered into a contract of employment in California, the provisions of which were stated in a “Letter of Agreement,” dated August 19, 1947. The letter was received in evidence, and it stated that Miss Brown was employed by petitioner for service in its “Zone of Operations” which zone “is understood to mean Saudi Arabia, and any other foreign locality to which employee may be transferred for service,” for a minimum period of two years; her classification would be “Stenographer,” but she might be assigned to other work at any time; upon her arrival in the zone of operations she would “be subject to the instructions of the Management”; during her service with petitioner she would be “required to abide by such rules and regulations as may be in effect in the Zone of Operations”; petitioner would designate the means and route of travel to be used and provide for reasonable expenses incurred while traveling for the account of petitioner; and that the petitioner [390]might summarily dismiss her for conduct which would be detrimental to the best interests of petitioner, for wilful neglect of duties, or for noncompliance with regulations.

The zone of operations to which Miss Brown was sent was Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which was referred to at the trial as a “company town.” Dhahran consisted of administration buildings, oil installations, living quarters for the employees, a “messhall,” and recreational facilities which included a library, a club house, a baseball diamond, motion pictures, and a swimming pool. Dhahran was inclosed by a wire fence about 6 feet high. The fence was to keep the natives out of the town. Apparently the fence inclosed a large area—Miss Brown having testified that she saw the fence when she was at or near the main gate; and that it took about 8 minutes for her to go by bus from the place where she lived to the place where she worked. Outside the fence there was an area known as “Old Dhahran,” which consisted of other administration buildings. Miss Brown worked in one of those buildings. Also outside the fence was a golf course which petitioner maintained for the use of its employees. Petitioner furnished its employees with board and lodging and transportation to and from work. It also permitted the employees to use its automobiles for pleasure after working hours. It maintained a “car pool,” which was made up of all the vehicles owned by it, including those used in petitioner’s business during working hours. Upon request, the male employees were given written authorization to use vehicles from the “car pool” for a designated number of hours. They were not, however, permitted to use them for pleasure purposes inside the fenced area. There was one main gate in the fence inclosing Dhahran. Immediately outside this gate there was a checking station at which the driver of a vehicle which was being used for pleasure was required to stop, sign his name, and state his approximate destination. He was also required to check in upon his return. There were three roads from Dhahran to other towns. One of those roads was to the town of Abqaq, about 50 miles away, and the road apparently was built by petitioner.