State ex rel. Szalay v. Industrial Commission
State ex rel. Szalay v. Industrial Commission
Opinion of the Court
This controversy results largely from the unfortunate dereliction of the then counsel for the relator in failing to file an application for rehearing after dismissal of the first application for modification of award. It is agreed that on May 18, 1932, the respondent mailed to the relator the required notice of the dismissal of that application for modification of award. Thereafter on June 16, 1932, counsel wrote a letter inquiring whether an application for rehearing had been filed; and more strangely still, after this apparent recognition of the necessity for filing such an application, no further action was taken until after the statutory thirty-day period had elapsed when on August 2, 1932, the second application for modification of award was filed. Confronted with this dilemna present counsel for the relator seek to extricate their client from the difficulty by disregarding the first application for modification of award. It is their theory that the two applications for modification of award involve different matters. They insist that the second application related to the leg amputation, and that the first did not. They urge also that the commission did not consider the matter of his leg
Counsel for the respondent commission concede that the orders of dismissal are unfortunately not as specific as they could and should be under the provisions of Section 871-9, General Code, but they insist that according to the commission’s records the leg amputation was involved in the first application for modification and was considered by the commission at the time this application was dismissed on May 13, 1932. They contend further that this dismissal was upon a jurisdictional ground.
To this the relator rejoins that this court is permitted to consider no part of the commission’s records except the orders made; and he further insists there can in any event be no presumption by this court that the commission considered all matters then before it.
Possibly it should first be observed that the limited wording of the orders dismissing the two applications for modification is of no assistance whatsoever in reaching a decision in this case. The first provides simply that “after conferring with Dr. Dorr, the Commission orders application for modification of award be dismissed.” The second reads “that the present, application for modification of award be dismissed.”
Next it should be noted with equal regret that the applications themselves are in no wise decisive of the controversy. The second is specific in stating that “I have not been compensated for the loss of my right leg”; but the first contains merely the general statement “that he has suffered disability far in excess of that recognized by compensation paid. My attending physician reported me unable to resume employment
In- this sort of predicament must recourse be had to the always unsatisfactory expedient of presumptions alone, or may consideration be given to the actual facts as disclosed by an examination of the commission’s records, especially since this is an original action and not a proceeding in error? This question necessitates a reexamination of several decisions of this court. In his opinion in the ease of Noggle v. Industrial Commission, 129 Ohio St., 495 (196 N. E., 377), on page 503 Judge Jones says: “The same conclusion is also supported by the following recently decided cases holding that the right of appeal depends upon the fact whether the record and final order of the commission disclose that its denial of claimant’s right to receive compensation is based upon a finding that the commission has no jurisdiction of the claim.” However, his language was not incorporated in the court’s syllabus. One of the cases to which he refers is that of Metal Specialty Co. v. Gregory, 128 Ohio St., 452, 191 N. E., 701, in which Judge Bevis states in his opinion that “in determining the legal effect of an order of the commission the court will look not alone to the order itself, but to the entire record.” Again this language does not appear in the syllabus. Another case cited is that of State, ex rel. Depedo, v. Industrial Commission, 128 Ohio St., 410, 191 N. E., 691. In his opinion Judge Wilkin states that “the facts of the ease are decisive,” that “the issue cannot be determined entirely by the order of the commission,” and that an order of the commission is appealable “if the facts of the case show that the denial of the right to continue to receive compensation was based upon a want of jurisdiction and authority to award compensation.” Later he says further that “the reason for the denial is a jurisdictional fact, and like any other essential fact, when placed in issue, must be proved.”
Was the leg amputation actually before the commission when it dismissed the relator’s first application for modification on May 13, 1932? As already observed, the application simply states generally that he ‘ ‘ suffered disability far in excess of that recognized by compensation paid.” But it should be noted that the leg was amputated nearly three years before this application was filed. It would therefore seem most improbable that the relator would ignore so serious a loss when bringing his condition to the attention of the commission. But fortunately, reliance need not be placed upon so uncertain a basis as mere probability. On the contrary, the records of the commission disclose that on May 3, 1932, the relator filed an affidavit claiming that as a result of his injury on December 12,1928, he had his leg amputated just below the knee; and with the affidavit was a letter from counsel calling attention to the amputation. Furthermore, it is not disputed that in another affidavit dated August 27, 1931, the relator presented the claim that his right
From the foregoing discussion it is readily apparent that counsel for the relator should have prepared to appeal the matter by filing the statutory application for rehearing within thirty days after notice of the dismissal of the first application for modification. Having failed to perform this duty, the right thus lost cannot be revested by resort to a subsequent application .for a modification involving the same claim. State, ex rel. Randolph, v. Industrial Commission, 128 Ohio St., 27, 190 N. E., 217; Industrial Commission v. Glenn, 101 Ohio St., 454, 129 N. E., 687.
The relator’s prayer for a peremptory writ of mandamus must be denied at his costs.
Writ denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State, ex rel. Szalay v. Industrial Commission of Ohio
- Status
- Published