State ex rel. Crawford v. Industrial Commission
State ex rel. Crawford v. Industrial Commission
Opinion of the Court
This is an action in mandamus filed in this court under the original jurisdiction of. the court, seeking to compel the Industrial Commission to continue biweekly payments under an award. The controversy grows out of the following facts and circumstances:
One George Morton, an employe, was injured in the course of his employment, resulting in his death. Eelator’s decedent was the wife of the said George Morton, and she was living with him at' the time of his death, and was wholly dependent upon him for support. After the death of George Morton, an award of the full amount due was made to the widow, payable in biweekly installments, to continue for the full statutory period of 416 weeks, in accordance with the provisions relating to wholly dependent persons, such award being made on November 24, 1922. The amount due under the award was subject to deduction by the amount of payments theretofore made on account of said injuries under temporary, total, and perma
The Industrial Commission has answered the petition of plaintiff, and admits that the widow was a wholly dependent person at the time of the award, but alleges that there are no children or other dependent persons. It admits that at the time of the death of the widow it refused to make further payments upon the award, and seeks to justify its action on the ground that upon her death there were no dependent persons to whom further payments could be made. The question for determination in this case, therefore, is whether an order awarding compensation from the state insurance fund, under section 1465-82, General Code, to a wife who was living with her husband at the time of his death, is irrevocable, so that, in the event of the death of such dependent before all of the installment payments have been made, her personal representative is entitled to receive the unpaid installments.
A discussion of this question calls for an examination of the constitutional provisions relative to workmen’s compensation and of the statutes enacted pursuant to such provisions, a review of some of the decisions previously rendered by this court,
In many of the former decisions of this court, there has been lengthy discussion of the nature of workmen’s compensation, the principles upon which it is founded, the wise, beneficent, and humanitarian character of such laws, and without further comment upon those matters it may be stated at the outset of this opinion that all the members of this court at this time fully concur in all the beautiful, well-worded sentiments heretofore expressed, and we particularly agree that the law is founded upon the principle of insurance, and that it is in no sense a pension, or bounty, or gratuity. On the other hand, we do not think any one would contend that either the Constitution framers or the General Assembly have ever entertained the thought that full compensation would be made in every case. Before the enactment of this legislation, the only means of compensating injured employes was by means of the ordinary negligence action, and unless negligence could be shown no compensation was recoverable. It was not even in all cases of negligence that there could be a reeovery, because there were many defenses that prevented recovery even though negligence of the employer might be proven. In the event of recovery,' the injured person was entitled to be compensated for pain and suffering, or under circumstances of malice, insult, or ill will there might be punitive damages. In all cases the injured person-encountered delays, expenses, and uncertainties. All this has been changed. Delays are negligible, expense has been eliminated, and the uncertainties
The constitutional provision is found in Section 35 of Article II, the pertinent portion of which is as follows:
“For the purpose ¡of providing compensation to workmen and their dependents, for death, injury or occupational disease, occasioned in the course of such workmen’s employment, laws may be passed establishing a state fund to. be created by compulsory contribution thereto by employers, and administered by the state. * * *”
The laws enacted pursuant to that provision provide for compulsory contribution, and the Legislature had no authority to establish a fund to be raised solely by compulsory contribution of employers except by virtue of that constitutional provision. In the same constitutional provision it will be seen that it was to be limited to “workmen and their dependents.”
To make this limitation more specific and emphatic, section 1465-88 provides:
“Compensation before payment shall be exempt from all claims or creditors and from any attachment or execution, and shall be paid only to such employes or their dependents.”
It will be seen that double emphasis has been given and that especial attention has been called to this limitation by the employment of the word “only” in that section.
It is claimed, however, that the language of section 1465-82, General Code, is so imperative as to make the provisions of the second paragraph of that section mandatory, and that the payments to persons wholly dependent at the time of the death of an injured workman must “continue for the remainder of the period between the date of the death and eight years after the date of the injury.” The portions of section 1465-82 which are pertinent to this inquiry are as follows:
“In case the injury causes death within the period of two years, the benefits shall be in the amount and to the persons following:
“1. If there be no dependents, the disbursements from the state insurance fund shall be limit*278 ed to the expenses provided for in section forty-two hereof.
“2. If there are wholly dependent persons at the time of the death, the payment shall be sixty-six and two-thirds per cent, of the average weekly wages, not to exceed fifteen dollars per week in any case and to continue for the remainder of the period between the date of the death and eight years after the date of the injury, and not to amount to more than a maximum of five thousand dollars. * * *'
“5. The following persons shall be presumed to be wholly dependent for support upon a deceased employe: (A) A wife upon a husband with whom she lives at the time of his death.”
Mrs. Morton was living with her husband at the time of his death, the death occurred within the period of two years after the injury, and that section of the statutes has full application to her ease. It is only a question of a proper construction of the statute.
Counsel for her executor argue that paragraph 2 of that section is mandatory, and that it must be so construed regardless of all other statutes, and that it is not subject to the statutory and constitutional limitations relating to dependents. Counsel rely upon the decision of the case, State ex rel. Munding, Admr., v. Industrial Commission, 92 Ohio St. 484, 111 N. E. 299, L. R. A. 1916D, 944, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 1162, and it must be admitted that if that case is sound in principle it must govern the case at bar. That case was decided by a bare majority of this court, and the principles therein decided have never been reviewed except in
“1. By authority of the continuing jurisdiction conferred by section 1465-86, General Code, the Industrial Commission may revoke an award theretofore made, upon ascertainment of any facts going to the basis of the claimant’s right, whenever in its opinion such revocation is justified.”
The continuing jurisdiction of the Commission is the basis of that decision. Section 1465-86 provides :
“The powers and jurisdiction of the board over each case shall be continuing, and it may from time to time make such modification or change with respect to former findings or orders with respect thereto, as, in its opinion may be justified.”
It will be seen that there are no limitations upon the continuing jurisdiction. Counsel for the relator, in this particular case, seek to avoid this sweeping provision giving the commission continuing jurisdiction solely on the ground of the alleged mandatory provisions contained in section 1465-82, General Code'.
If we were disposed to resort to a technical analysis of the language of that section we think
A comparison of section 1465-82 with section 1465-80 shows that the language of section 1465-80 is quite as imperative as the language of section 1465-82. The language of section 1465-79 and of section 1465-83, is equally imperative. If section 1465-82 shall be held to be mandatory, then by the same token, the other sections must also be held to be mandatory, and the continuing 'jurisdiction of the Commission would be almost entirely destroyed. The continuing jurisdiction of the Commission was discussed at length in the opinion of the Dell Case, supra, and need not be covered at length in this opinion.
In the Munding case it is apparent that the
The syllabus in the Munding case is somewhat unfortunate, because the question at issue is not whether the right vests at the time the award is made, but, rather, whether an award is revocable by reason of changed conditions to be noticed and recognized by the Commission under its continuing jurisdiction. It is fully recognized throughout
We are also referred by counsel for relator in the instant case to the analogy existing between a finding of the Commission and the judgment of a court of common pleas in an alimony suit where an order has been made awarding alimony payable in installments. We have carefully looked into the matter of the right of the court of common pleas to exercise continuing jurisdiction over alimony payable in installments, and we find this jurisdiction clearly recognized in a number of well-considered cases. Olney v. Watts, 43 Ohio St., 499, 3 N. E., 354; Smedley v. State, 95 Ohio
“The decree of divorce and original order of alimony in the case at bar was made in December, 1910. It is well settled that the jurisdiction of a court in an alimony case is continuing.”
It is true that in other cases decided by this court a continuing jurisdiction has been denied where the judgment was in the nature of a division of property under section 11993, General Code. It must also be kept clearly in mind that in determining the continuing jurisdiction of the court of common pleas in alimony cases the courts of Ohio without any statutory or constitutional authority therefor have established the rule of continuing jurisdiction as a matter of public policy. It nevertheless has become established as one of the exceptions to the finality of judgments.
Workmen’s compensation administration is not circumscribed by the limitations which usually attach to the finality of judgments rendered by courts, because its orders are clearly recognized as purely administrative, and not judicial, and full power and authority is conferred to make modifications and changes with respect to former findings or orders as in the opinion of the Commission may be justified. Section 1465-86, General Code.
In the Dell case the award made to Maggie Berg was to a person then adjudged to be wholly dependent, and if in that case the award was a finality then the Commission had no right to revoke
It has been pointed out in argument that under authority of section 1465-87' payments of compensation or benefits may be commuted and paid in one or more lump sums. It may of course be conceded that payments made to either an injured person or the dependents of a killed employe could not be recovered back, and this is one of the considerations which should have the earnest attention of the Commission before commuting payments, and we find that the Commission has given full recognition to this fact in the promulgation of rule 19, governing procedure in claims against the state insurance fund, which declares the policy of the Commission not to pay awards in lump sums unless it is made to appear to the Commission that it would be to the mutual advantage of the claimant or beneficiary and to the insurance fund.
Counsel for the relator have discussed some
We have not considered and therefore do not decide whether the reasonable debts of last illness and the reasonable funeral expenses of -a decedent might or might not, under the wide latitude of authority given the Commission, be ordered paid out of any unexpended balance of an award to a wholly dependent person.
The Munding case must therefore be overruled, and the peremptory writ of mandamus denied.
Writ denied.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.