Chadwick v. Industrial Commission

507 N.E.2d 878, 154 Ill. App. 3d 859, 107 Ill. Dec. 725, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 2369
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 23, 1987
Docket4-86-0467WC
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 507 N.E.2d 878 (Chadwick v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chadwick v. Industrial Commission, 507 N.E.2d 878, 154 Ill. App. 3d 859, 107 Ill. Dec. 725, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 2369 (Ill. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE BARRY

delivered the opinion of the court:

The petitioner, Sandra Chadwick, filed an application for adjustment of claim on behalf of her three minor children, Lisa Marie Laws, Benny Lee Laws II, and Krista Fawn Laws, to recover damages for the death of their father, Benny Lee Laws, pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act) (111. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, par. 138.1 et seq.). The arbitrator denied the petitioner’s claim. The Industrial Commission (the Commission) affirmed the arbitrator’s decision. The petitioner filed for a circuit court review of the Commission’s decision. The respondent, Baldwin Associates, subsequently filed a motion to quash. The circuit court granted the respondent’s motion, finding that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the cause because the petitioner failed to strictly comply with section 19(f)(1) of the Act (111. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, par. 138.19(f)(1)). The petitioner brings this appeal.

The facts which gave rise to this claim, as ascertained from the decision of the arbitrator, are briefly that the decedent, an employee of the respondent, fell 70 feet to his death while working on a scaffold at a nuclear power plant in Clinton, Illinois. The arbitrator denied the application for adjustment of claim, and was affirmed by the Commission, on the grounds that the petitioner failed to prove accidental injuries rising out of and in the course of the decedent’s employment with the respondent.

The instant record shows that the petitioner timely filed for circuit court review of the Commission’s decision. The written request for review included a praecipe for a writ of certiorari and a writ of scire facias, a certificate of mailing, a writ of certiorari and a writ of scire facias. In the praecipe, the respondent was named as a party in interest, but its address was not given. However, the praecipe gave the name and address of the respondent’s attorney of record. Also, the respondent’s name and address were listed on the certificate of mailing.

The respondent appeared and filed a motion to quash the writs based on improper venue. The motion was granted and the cause was transferred from Sangamon County to De Witt County. Three months later, the respondent filed an amended motion to quash, contending that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction because the praecipe did not include: (1) the respondent’s address; (2) the names and addresses of the decedent’s children as parties in interest; and (3) the Commission as a party in interest.

The circuit court allowed the respondent’s motion to quash the writs. Although it was not persuaded by the respondent’s contention as to the children, the court found that by not including the respondent’s address in the praecipe, the petitioner failed to strictly comply with the requirements of section 19(f)(1), thereby depriving the circuit court of subject matter jurisdiction. The petitioner’s subsequent motion to reconsider was denied. This appeal followed.

The sole issue on appeal is whether the motion to quash the writs was improperly granted where the petitioner’s written request for summons substantially complied with the requirements of section 19(f)(1) of the Act.

The petitioner contends that by naming the respondent as a party in interest, giving the address of the respondent’s attorney of record on the praecipe and listing the respondent’s last known address on the certificate of mailing, she conformed to the material provisions of section 19(f)(1). The petitioner argues that the intent of section 19(f)(1) was fulfilled in that the party in interest, the respondent, was summoned, apprised of the appeal and appeared. Thus, the petitioner argues, the respondent was not prejudiced. The petitioner notes that the respondent did not deny that it was duly served.

The respondent argues that the certificate of mailing listing its last known address was insufficient to satisfy the jurisdictional requirement under section 19(f)(1) that the written request shall contain the last known address of all parties in interest. The respondent asserts that as a result the circuit court lacked the requisite subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate this cause.

Initially, we note that the petitioner filed a praecipe for a writ of certiorari and a writ of scire facias, using the statutory language of section 19(f)(1) prior to its amendment in 1983 instead of filing a written request for summons as presently is required. The respondent has not objected to that fact.

Section 19(f)(1) of the Act in relevant part provides that the praecipe or written request for summons for judicial review of a Commission decision “shall contain the last known address of other parties in interest and their attorneys of record who are to be served by summons.” (111. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, par. 138.19(f)(1).) The issue raised in this case, whether a praecipe or written request is sufficient where only the name and not the address of the parly in interest is listed, is one of first impression in Illinois.

In Illinois, a circuit court’s jurisdiction to review a decision of the Industrial Commission is a special statutory power, limited by the statute’s provisions. (Daugherty v. Industrial Com. (1983), 99 Ill. 2d 1, 457 N.E.2d 381; American Can Co. v. Industrial Com. (1986), 149 Ill. App. 3d 83, 500 N.E.2d 544.) While circuit courts are courts of general jurisdiction and are presumed to have subject matter jurisdiction, this presumption is not available in compensation cases. Strict compliance with section 19(f)(1) is normally required before a circuit court is vested, with subject matter jurisdiction. Arrington v. Industrial Com. (1983), 96 Ill. 2d 505, 451 N.E.2d 866; Malone v. Industrial Com. (1986), 141 Ill. App. 3d 116, 489 N.E.2d 1167.

However, courts have found jurisdiction based on substantial compliance. Principal among these cases is Republic Steel Corp. v. Industrial Com. (1964), 30 Ill. 2d 311, 196 N.E.2d 654. In Republic, the petitioner filed a surety bond with the clerk of the circuit court. The clerk approved the bond, but did not note that approval on the face of the bond. The circuit court allowed the respondent’s motion to quash for lack of the clerk’s express approval on the face of the bond, as required by Village of Glencoe v. Industrial Com. (1933), 354 Ill. 190, 188 N.E. 329. The supreme court, in reversing the circuit court, noted that the tendency of the courts has been to simplify procedure, honor substance over form and prevent technicalities from depriving a party of the right to be heard. The court found that the statute did not require the clerk’s written approval on the bond. Rather, it found that where a clerk accepted the bond without objection, approval by the clerk would be presumed and deemed to be sufficient to satisfy the statute.

In Bethlehem Steel Corp. v. Industrial Com. (1968), 41 Ill.

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Bluebook (online)
507 N.E.2d 878, 154 Ill. App. 3d 859, 107 Ill. Dec. 725, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 2369, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chadwick-v-industrial-commission-illappct-1987.