Mountain Timber Company v. State of Washington

Background

The State sued a logging and sawmill corporation to recover required premium payments under Washington’s 1911 Workmen’s Compensation Act. The company operated a logging railroad and a sawmill with power-driven machinery and challenged the law as unconstitutional. The act sets up a public accident fund, lists many "extra hazardous" industries, requires employers in those industries to pay scheduled contributions, and replaces ordinary lawsuits by injured workers with payments from the fund.

Reasoning

The core question was whether the State could force employers in listed hazardous industries to contribute to a public fund and abolish ordinary private lawsuits for workplace injuries. The Court said the subject of compensation for industrial accidents is a public concern and that the State may use its power to regulate or tax occupations to provide sure and certain relief. The Court found the contribution schedule, class system, and administrative safeguards reasonably related to the public purpose and not arbitrary, so the law does not violate the federal Constitution’s protections against unfair government action.

Real world impact

Employers in the enumerated hazardous industries must make regular payments into the state accident fund, and injured workers generally cannot sue for common-law damages but instead receive compensation defined by the act. The ruling shifts the financial burden of accidental injuries from individual employees and individual employers to the industry-wide fund administered by the State.

Dissents or concurrances

Four Justices— the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice McKenna, Mr. Justice Van Devanter, and Mr. Justice McReynolds—dissented from the judgment. The opinion notes their disagreement without detailing their reasons in this text.