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Faulkner v. Mayfield3/25/1988
act for hire existed. " e have found nothing in the Act and its amendments which indicates any intention of the Legislature to give compensation insurance protection to prisoners who perform services, whether for the city, county or state." Id. at 1234. Clinton differs from Ohio law since the definition of "employee" in R.C. 4123.01 is universal, whereas the Oklahoma law defines "employee" more narrowly.
In Abrams v. Madison Cty. Highway Dept. (Tenn. 1973), 495 S.W. 2d 539, a county inmate who was injured while working in the county garage was not entitled to receive workers' compensation benefits because he was not under a contract for hire. The inmate was required to work as a condition of his sentence. Since his work was not of his volition, no contractual relationship existed.
In general, in states where misdemeanor offenders have been able to receive workers' compensation, the courts have so held because the employers had control over them. In states where participation was denied, it was denied on a contract-for-hire theory.
Faulkner performed work to discharge a debt. There are several cases where an injured worker was held to participate in a workers' compensation fund where he was not paid wages but worked to discharge a debt. Smith v. Jones (1925), 102 Conn. 471, 129 A. 50, 43 A.L.R. 952, held a mutual agreement between two farmers to fill each other's silos and icehouses was a valid contract for services. The labor given in exchange for pay was held to be sufficient consideration to imply a contract for hire. In reciprocal- services situations where a person works for another in order to discharge a debt, " he essential feature is the presence of an understanding that the services are being performed pursuant to an implied contract for exchange of labor." 1C Larson, The Law of Workmen's Compensation (1986), Section 47.43(b).
Alexander v. J. E. Hixson & Sons Funeral Home (La. App. 1950), 44 So. 2d 487, runs counter to Smith. A florist and funeral director, in appreciation for referring business to each other, would help each other in their businesses when work accumulated. The court held that the business relationship was reciprocal. When the florist injured himself removing a vault lid, he was not entitled to receive workers' compensation because the funeral director had no control over the florist's work. The florist had the ability to refuse work when asked; hence, the funeral director did not control his work.
While a review of the authorities in other jurisdictions may be expositive, they are not dispositive of the issue before this court. The issue is not one of public policy, but rather one of statutory construction; that is, should R.C. Chapter 4123 be construed to deny workers' compensation participation to workers who are injured while working to pay off a fine? We find that such workers are covered.
In construing any statute, the object is to reach the result the legislature intended, R.C. 1.47, by giving the language of the statute its ordinary meaning, R.C. 1.42, and to avoid interpretations which are a denial of equal protection of law. State v. Meyer (1983), 14 Ohio App.3d 69, 14 OBR 81, 470 N.E.2d 156.
Using these standards, we turn to consider R.C. Chapter 4123. As noted above, appellant is not expressly excluded from coverage, and impliedly is included in the broad language of the statute. Coverage is available to workers in circumstances similar to appellant's. A county may purchase workers' compensation coverage for juveniles in a work rehabilitation program. 1982 Ohio Atty. Gen. Ops. No. 82-045. This is particularly relevant in light of R.C. 1901.024(B), a special code section dealing only wit
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