Carr v. Wm. C. Crowell Co

In Carr v. Wm. C. Crowell Co. (1946) 28 Cal.2d 652, two employees got involved in a dispute about whether it was time to lay a temporary metal plate on the floor of a building under construction. The injured employee kicked the plate, and the other threw a hammer at him, striking him in the head and seriously injuring him. The employer claimed in the ensuing lawsuit that "Enloe the hammer-thrower was not acting in the scope of his employment when he injured plaintiff, on the grounds that the throwing of the hammer did not further the employer's interests as an employer and that Enloe could not have intended by his conduct to further such interests." (Id. at p. 654.) The court concluded, however, that it was sufficient "if the injury resulted from a dispute arising out of the employment." (Ibid.) The evidence presented "indicated without conflict that the injury to plaintiff was an outgrowth of Enloe's employment. Not only did the altercation leading to the injury arise solely over the performance of Enloe's duties, but his entire association with plaintiff arose out of his employment on the building under construction. He had never seen plaintiff before the day preceding the accident, and had never conversed with him before the dispute over the plate. He . . . was not angry with plaintiff before the dispute and had no personal grudge against him . . . ." (Id. at p. 657.)