Garfield Smelting Co. v. Industrial Commission

178 P. 57, 53 Utah 133, 1918 Utah LEXIS 12
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 27, 1918
DocketNo. 3277
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 178 P. 57 (Garfield Smelting Co. v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garfield Smelting Co. v. Industrial Commission, 178 P. 57, 53 Utah 133, 1918 Utah LEXIS 12 (Utah 1918).

Opinion

FBICK, C. J.

The questions presented by this appeal are based upon and arise out of the provisions of chapter 100, Laws Utah 1917, commonly known as the Industrial Commission Act, hereinafter designated as the Industrial Act. That act has been before us on two other occasions, namely, in Industrial Commission v. Daly Mining Co., 51 Utah, 602, 172 Pac. 301, and in Industrial Commission v. Evans, 52 Utah, 394, 174 Pac. 825, where a number of sections of that act were construed and applied. To avoid unnecessary repetition we refer to those cases, and shall in this opinion set forth only such portions of the Industrial Act as are absolutely necessary to make clear the questions decided.

The questions now to be determined, briefly stated, arise as follows: On the 24th day of September, 1917, one Mary G. [136]*136Ringholz, of Salt Lake City, filed her petition and application before the Industrial Commission wherein she, in substance, alleged that she is the surviving widow of one Jacob Ringholz, who on August 22, 1917, had died from an injury which was caused by an accident arising in the course of his employment while he was an employee of the Garfield Smelting Company, the appellant here. The particulars concerning the accident resulting in death were set forth in the petition. The petitioner also gave the names and ages of the surviving children of the decedent, who were three sons, one of whom was eleven, another sixteen, and the third eighteen years of age. The petition contained all the necessary allegations which are required by the rules of the Industrial Commission. The Garfield Smelting Company, hereinafter designated appellant, appeared and answered the petition. In its answer it was admitted that the petitioner was the -widow, and that.the children were the sons of the deceased, that the deceased, prior to his death, was an employee of appellant, and that he died on the date stated in the petition. Appellant, however, denied that the death of the deceased “was caused by reason of an accident arising out of or in the course of his. employment by the defendant,” and further denied all other material allegations of the petition. Appellant also affirmatively averred in its answer that the commission was without jurisdiction, setting forth the facts in that regard in detail. A hearing was had before the Industrial Commission on the issues presented by the petition and answer, and on the 22d day of October, 1917, it filed its decision, in which it, in substance, found that the deceased was injured as alleged; “that the injury was one arising out of and in the course of the employment of the deceased by the defendant corporation.” Other necessary findings were made which it is not necessary to repeat here. The commission accordingly awarded the widow the sum of $4,500, to be paid by the appellant “for the benefit of herself and minor child,” the son of 11 years of age. The other two sons, for the reason hereinafter appearing, were excluded. The award was made payable at the rate of fifteen dollars a week, “payable every four weeks until the .total sum of $4,500 is paid, or until the fur[137]*137ther order of this commission.” Appellant was also required to pay $200 “for medical, hospital, and nursing expenses,” and $150 for “funeral expenses.” Upon a rehearing the last two items were eliminated from the award, and the award in all other respects was affirmed. After the rehearing and the affirmance of the award the appellant commenced this action in the district court of Salt Lake County against the commission pursuant to the provisions of the Industrial Act. It set forth in its complaint all of the facts hereinbefore stated, with others not necessary to be enumerated, and also stated the facts in detail why the commission was without jurisdiction and wherein it had exceeded its powers under the Industrial Act, and alleged that the award, for specific reasons stated, was unconstitutional and void. When the matter came on for hearing in the district court, appellant demanded a jury trial upon the issue as to whether the deceased was injured in the course of his employment, and hence whether the appellant was liable under the Industrial Act. The district court refused a jury trial, and, after hearing arguments of counsel upon the other questions raised, upon the issues presented, and upon the law, the court entered a judgment dismissing the action, from which judgment this appeal is prosecuted.

Counsel for appellant have assigned a large number of errors. In their brief they have, however, limited their argument to the following propositions: (1) “That the Industrial Commission Act, in so far as it attempts in death cases to abrogate the right of action by the heirs, or any of them, or attempts to fix a statutory limitation of the amount recoverable, is unconstitutional and void;” (2) whether the widow, acting alone, without regard to the rights of the children, may exercise the sole right to waive an action for damages and accept the compensation provided by the act; (3) that the employer is entitled to a jury trial upon the question whether the alleged injury is one “arising out of and in the course of employment,” and that the district court erred in denying appellant a jury trial upon that question; and (4) that, even though appellant is not entitled to a jury trial, yet the award of the commission is void, and the judgment of the district [138]*138court affirming the same is erroneous because there is no evidence whatever in support of the finding that the injury which caused the death of the deceased arose out of and in the course of his employment. We have condensed counsel’s second and third propositions into our third.

We remark that at the hearing in this court both counsel for the appellant and the Attorney General, who appeared for the commission, with most commendable frankness, conceded that there are a number of difficult questions which arise under the Industrial Act by reason of some of the provisions of our Constitution which do not arise under similar acts in other jurisdictions. It was conceded, therefore, that in so far as those constitutional provisions are concerned, the decisions of the courts of other jurisdictions, where such provisions are not in force, can shed but little, if any, light upon what the result should be respecting some of the propositions involved on this appeal.

We shall consider the several propositions relied on by appellant’s" counsel in the order we have stated them.

' The constitutional provision which is specifically relied on by appellant is found in article 16, section 5, of our Constitution, which reads as follows:

‘ ‘ The right of action to recover damages for injuries resulting in death, shall never be abrogated, and the amount recoverable shall not be subject to any statutory limitation.”

1 A mere glance at the foregoing section shows that it imposes a double limitation upon legislative action: (1) That the right to “recover damages for injuries resulting in death” may not be abrogated; and (2) that the amount of recovery in such actions may not be limited by law. In view that state Constitutions are limitations on the legislative power respecting the subjects expressed in the limitations, the Legislature ordinarily may nevertheless enlarge existing rights; that is, such rights, if otherwise proper subjects of legislation, while they may not be destroyed or abridged, may nevertheless be enlarged or augmented by legislative enactment.

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Bluebook (online)
178 P. 57, 53 Utah 133, 1918 Utah LEXIS 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garfield-smelting-co-v-industrial-commission-utah-1918.