Opinion
October 6, 1955.
Present — Foster, P.J., Bergan, Coon, Halpern and Zeller, JJ.
Appeal by the employer and insurance carrier from an award of death benefits. The decedent was employed as a dishwasher at the employer's summer resort hotel in the Adirondack Mountains. The property fronted on Blue Mountain Lake, extending along its shore line approximately one and one-quarter miles and out from the shore line about one quarter of a mile. Decedent was paid $40 a week, plus room and board. On June 29, 1948, while the decedent was using one of his employer's canoes for recreational purposes during the afternoon off-duty period, it capsized and the plaintiff was drowned. The accident occurred on that part of the lake owned by the employer. There is proof in the record that the employees were permitted to use the facilities of the hotel for recreational purposes and there is evidence sufficient to support an inference that the use of the facilities was an inducement and part of the contract of employment. The board was not compelled to accept the testimony of the general manager, who was the son of the sole owner of the hotel, that he had forbidden the decedent the use of the canoes. Decision and award unanimously affirmed, with costs to the Workmen's Compensation Board.