Pacific Employers Insurance v. Industrial Accident Commission

Lillian Carmel, while employed in a hotel as a bus girl and attending to her duties, sustained injury as the result of the skylarking of two fellow employees. By this proceeding, Pacific Employers Insurance Company, the hotel’s insurance carrier, seeks to annul an award of compensation for the injury, and the question for decision concerns the liability of an employer under such circumstances.

The facts are undisputed. Burton and Orgain, two young bus boys, were working in a dining room of the hotel clearing dishes which had been left by departing guests. It was after 1 a. m. and the boys were…