Williams v. Industrial Commission of Arizona
Williams v. Industrial Commission of Arizona
Opinion of the Court
Certiorari to review an award of the Industrial Commission. In June, 1949, petitioner sustained personal injuries by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. On November 6, 1950, the commission entered its findings and award for permanent partial disability, which findings and award were affirmed on rehearing.
With reference to the injuries or a residue thereof, the evidence appears to be in conflict. The medical evidence is to the effect that petitioner has suffered a 45% disability of loss of use of the right foot and a 50% plus disability of loss of use of the left arm which were translated into a 35% general functional disability.
Evidence at the time the record was made disclosed that at the time of the
The award was predicated upon the provisions of section 56-957, A.C.A. 1939, subsections (c) and (d), and the injuries were treated as unscheduled. It was specifically found: “That the physical injury caused by said accident consisted of multiple injuries” and “that said applicant has suffered a 20% loss of earning power, and is entitled to 55% of the difference between $250.00 and $200.00 which is the sum of $27.50, payable monthly until further order of the Commission.” No complaint is made concerning the accident benefits that were afforded nor the compensation that was paid for temporary disability. It is apparent that the award made was for permanent partial disability resulting from unscheduled injuries not within the provisions of subsection (b) of section 56-957.
Petitioner’s assignments of error and propositions of law in support thereof all go to the proposition that petitioner was entitled to be compensated under the provisions of section 56-957(b), 13, 15 and 21, relating to scheduled losses and, in addition thereto, was .entitled to a loss of earnings award based on subsections (c), (d) and (e) of section 56-957. Compensable scheduled injuries are compensated for regardless of the fact that there may be no disability to earn wages as a result thereof. Sections 56-956, 56-957(b); Ossic v. Verde Central Mines, 46 Ariz. 176, 49 P.2d 396; Six Companies, Inc., v. Industrial Commission, 41 Ariz. 366, 18 P.2d 913; Ujevich v. Inspiration Consol. Copper Co., 42 Ariz. 276, 25 P.2d 273, 275. Compensable injuries of the unscheduled variety are compensable under the provisions of subsections (c) and (d) of section 56-957, and no compensation is allowable unless there has been a loss of earning power and this regardless of the fact that there may be some residual physical functional disability. Hoffman v. Brophy, 61 Ariz. 307, 149 P.2d 160.
The contention of petitioner is not a matter of first impression in this jurisdiction. In the case of Ujevich v. Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co., supra, the identical contention was there made that is presented here. In that case, peti
We specifically hold that compensation for multiple injuries such as suffered by petitioner here may not be determined by applying the schedules provided for in section 56-957 (b) and combining the
Award affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
I disagree with the majority opinion.
Of all the cases cited by the majority opinion, the Ossic v. Verde Central Mines, 46 Ariz. 176, 49 P.2d 396, 401, is the latest and most nearly in point. I cannot agree that the Ossie case is authority for the commission to disregard the two partial scheduled losses and make its award solely under the “odd lot” cases as an unscheduled loss. I think the Ossie case is authority for the proposition that when an injured workman receives a scheduled injury whether its one, or more, and whether its total or partial, he is entitled as a minimum to an award that will compensate him for those scheduled losses in accordance with subsection (b) of 56-957, A.C.A. 1939; and in addition thereto he is further entitled to a loss of earnings award if his condition warrants it. The loss of earnings award to begin after the period provided for his monthly installments for scheduled injuries has expired.
This court in the Ossie case quoted the following from Ujevich v. Inspiration Consol. Copper Co., 42 Ariz. 276, 25 P.2d 273: “ 'The Legislature selected certain kinds of injuries or losses that employees suffer and fixed a definite sum or a rule 'for ascertaining that sum and said, in effect, such sum together with the temporary total disability compensation shall be in full satisfaction of the employee’s loss. It provided compensation for such loss whether any permanent disability to earn wages followed or not. It assumed that every loss enumerated would cause some permanent loss of earning power, and arbitrarily fixed the compensation therefor. While the application of this rule may in some instances compensate the employee more than he has been disabled, in others he doubtless will receive less than his ability has been depreciated by reason of the accident’.”
After analyzing 56-957 (sec. 1438 of the 1928 code) this court further held: “ * *. These facts are evidence that the Legis
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If the Interpretation put on the Ossie case by the majority opinion is the law, then the commission could in a case where there is no loss of earnings make an award under the “odd lot” case rule for a negligible amount or nothing at all, and completely disregard the statute which gives the injured workman a specific sum when he suffers multiple partial scheduled injuries as he has in this case.
The award should be set aside.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WILLIAMS v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF ARIZONA Et Al.
- Cited By
- 21 cases
- Status
- Published