Opinion
March 20, 1952.
Appeal from Workmen's Compensation Board.
Present — Foster, P.J., Heffernan, Brewster, Bergan and Coon, JJ. [See post, p. 1107.]
The award of double compensation was allowed to the claimant on the ground that at the time of the accident he was a minor, seventeen years of age, and was working for the employer without an employment certificate in violation of sections 130 Lab. and 131 Lab. of the Labor Law. The employer was the owner of the Lakeside Riding Academy located at Lakeview, Long Island. He employed claimant, a minor seventeen years of age, as a groom at the riding academy. In addition to maintaining a riding stable, the employer boarded and rented out horses and gave riding lessons to people desiring them through qualified instructors in his employ. The claimant's duties as a groom required him to clean the stable, look after the horses and exercise them. On December 21, 1947, claimant, while riding a horse in the regular course of his employment, met with an accident when the horse slipped on some ice and fell on claimant's foot causing the injuries in question. It was conceded by the employer that at the time of the accident the claimant was a minor, seventeen years of age, and that he was employed without an employment certificate. The contention of the appellant is that the statutes in question do not contain a prohibition against the employment of minors in a riding academy. The board found that claimant was employed in violation of sections 130 Lab. and 131 Lab. of the Labor Law in that being under the age of eighteen years he was employed in a place of amusement at the time of the accident. The evidence sustains the determination of the board. Decision and award unanimously affirmed, with costs to the Workmen's Compensation Board.