Banegas Ex Rel. Banegas v. State Industrial Insurance System

19 P.3d 245, 117 Nev. 222, 117 Nev. Adv. Rep. 22, 2001 Nev. LEXIS 23
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 16, 2001
Docket29833
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 19 P.3d 245 (Banegas Ex Rel. Banegas v. State Industrial Insurance System) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Banegas Ex Rel. Banegas v. State Industrial Insurance System, 19 P.3d 245, 117 Nev. 222, 117 Nev. Adv. Rep. 22, 2001 Nev. LEXIS 23 (Neb. 2001).

Opinions

[223]*223OPINION

By the Court,

Becker, J.:

Appellant Annabelle Banegas was an unmarried cohabitant of decedent Robert Banegas at the time of his death in 1994. During the period of their cohabitation, Annabelle relied on Robert for substantially all of her financial support, including all living expenses other than the cost of housing. After Robert’s work-related death, Annabelle applied for death benefits from the State Industrial Insurance System (SUS) as a dependent of Robert. SIIS denied Annabelle’s claim on the basis that she was not a “legal dependent” of Robert at the time of his death. SIIS’s denial was upheld by an appeals officer, and the district court subsequently [224]*224denied Annabelle’s petition for judicial review. On appeal, Annabelle contends that she should not have been denied death benefits because NRS 616C.505(8) (c/. NRS 616.615(8)) provides benefits for factual dependents regardless of their legal relationship to the deceased employee.1 We disagree and affirm the order of the district court denying the petition for judicial review.

FACTS

Robert and Annabelle were married on April 2, 1955. They divorced on August 4, 1981. The divorce decree made no provision for Annabelle’s support but did distribute the community property. Robert and Annabelle eventually reconciled and began cohabitating sometime in 1990, but never remarried. From 1990 until Robert’s death in 1994, they lived in Annabelle’s house with Robert providing substantially all of Annabelle’s financial support. Specifically, Robert paid for all of the living expenses other than the cost of housing.

Robert had been an employee of Reynolds Electric Systems Company (REECO) for approximately twenty-six years, working almost exclusively in tunnel areas. On January 4, 1994, Robert died from a lung disease which was related to his work for REECO.

Following Robert’s death, Annabelle applied for death benefits from SnS as a dependent of Robert. SIIS denied Annabelle’s claim based upon its reading of NRS 616C.505 that death benefits were payable only to designated dependents related by blood or marriage. Annabelle appealed SIIS’s decision, asserting that subsection 8 of NRS 616C.505 is a catchall category providing death benefits to factual dependents regardless of any legal relationship to the deceased employee. The appeals officer upheld SIIS’s claim denial after concluding that Annabelle was not entitled to death benefits under NRS 616C.505 because she was not Robert’s legal dependent at the time of his death. Similarly, the district court denied Annabelle’s petition for judicial review after concluding that there was substantial evidence to support the appeals officer’s decision.

DISCUSSION

The facts of this case are not in dispute. The question before this court is whether the appeals officer properly interpreted the workers’ compensation statutes applicable to this case. Questions of law are reviewed de novo. SIIS v. United Exposition Services [225]*225Co., .109 Nev. 28, 30, 846 P.2d 294, 295 (1993). “[A] reviewing court may undertake independent review of the administrative construction of a statute.” American Int’l Vacations v. MacBride, 99 Nev. 324, 326, 661 P.2d 1301, 1302 (1983).

NRS 616C.505 provides, in descending order of entitlement, that the surviving spouse, minor children, or parents or siblings of a deceased employee are entitled to receive death benefits if an injury arising out of and in the course of employment causes the employee’s death. See NRS 616C.505(2)-(6). Additionally, subsection 8 provides:

In all other cases involving a question of total or partial dependency:
(a) The extent of the dependency must be determined in accordance with the facts existing at the time of the injury.
(b) If the deceased employee leaves dependents only partially dependent upon his earnings for support at the time of the injury causing his death, the monthly compensation to be paid must be equal to the same proportion of the monthly payments for the benefit of persons totally dependent as the amount contributed by the deceased employee to the partial dependents bears to the average monthly wage of the deceased employee at the time of the injury resulting in his death.
(c) The duration of compensation to partial dependents must be fixed in accordance with the facts shown, but may not exceed compensation for 100 months.

NRS 616C.505(8).

Annabelle, SIIS, and REECO all suggest distinct constructions of NRS 616C.505(8). It is well established that when the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, a court should give that language its ordinary meaning and not go beyond it. See City Council of Reno v. Reno Newspapers, 105 Nev. 886, 891, 784 P.2d 974, 977 (1989). However, if a statute is susceptible to more than one natural or honest interpretation, it is ambiguous. See Randono v. CUNA Mutual Ins. Group, 106 Nev. 371, 374, 793 P.2d 1324, 1326 (1990). We conclude that the language of NRS 616C.505(8) is ambiguous.

When a statute is ambiguous, the Legislature’s intent is the controlling factor in statutory interpretation, and the statute should be construed consistently with what reason and public policy would indicate the Legislature intended. Robert E. v. Justice Court, 99 Nev. 443, 445, 664 P.2d 957, 959 (1983).

[226]*226In this case, the legislative history does not provide extensive insight into the intent behind NRS 616C.505

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Bluebook (online)
19 P.3d 245, 117 Nev. 222, 117 Nev. Adv. Rep. 22, 2001 Nev. LEXIS 23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/banegas-ex-rel-banegas-v-state-industrial-insurance-system-nev-2001.