Opinion No. 59-211
December 30, 1959
TO: Morris Haas, D. S. C. New Mexico State Board of Podiatry 121 Sycamore NE Albuquerque, N. M.
QUESTION
QUESTION
Is a woman Podiatry assistant exempt from the female eight hour law, same being § 59-5-1, N.M.S.A., 1953 Compilation?
CONCLUSION
Yes.
OPINION
{*325} ANALYSIS
The pertinent section is § 59-5-1, which reads as follows:
"No female shall be employed in any industrial or mercantile establishment, hotel, restaurant, cafe or eating house; or in any laundry, or in any office as a stenographer, clerk, bookkeeper or in any other clerical position; or in any place of amusement; or in any telephone or telegraph office, within the state more than eight (8) hours in any one (1) day of twenty-four (24) hours, nor more than forty-eight (48) hours in any one (1) week of seven (7) days. The provisions of this act (59-5-1 to 59-5-9) shall not apply to hospitals or sanitariums, or to registered or practical nurses wherever employed; or to midwives while engaged in their duties as such."
The persons specifically regulated under the provisions of this act are enumerated therein.
No regulation is attempted for a female Podiatry assistant.
In § 244 of Volume 50 Am. Jur., under heading of Statutes, is found the following:
"EXPRESSIO UNIUS EST EXCLUSIO ALTERIUS. -- As exceptions in a statute strengthen the force of the law in cases not excepted, so enumerations weaken it in cases not enumerated. Indeed, it is a general principle of interpretation that the mention of one thing implies the exclusion of another; expressio unius estt exclusio alterius."
We, therefore, conclude that since a woman Podiatry assistant is not mentioned in § 59-5-1, N.M.S.A., 1953 Compilation, that they are exempted from the female eight hour law of § 59-5-1, N.M.S.A., 1953 Compilation.
By: Hilario Rubio
Assistant Attorney General