Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Commission

282 N.W. 612, 229 Wis. 515, 1938 Wisc. LEXIS 317
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 6, 1938
StatusPublished

This text of 282 N.W. 612 (Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Commission, 282 N.W. 612, 229 Wis. 515, 1938 Wisc. LEXIS 317 (Wis. 1938).

Opinion

Nelson, J.

This is the third time that this controversy has been before this court. Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Comm. 217 Wis. 76, 258 N. W. 336; Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Comm. 222 Wis. 439, 267 N. W. 905. The plaintiff does not question the power of the commission to order a payment in gross of a valid award but contends: (1) That the commission erroneously included in its calculations the amount of the primary compensation award dated November 23, 1933, because that entire award, which included primary compensation, was set aside by this court in Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Comm. 217 Wis. 76, 258 N. W. 336; (2) that the only award with which the commission could deal in ordering a. payment in gross was that of March 1, 1935; and (3) that the circuit court erred in amending the order of July 10, 1937, by adding thereto the [517]*517sum of $200, together with interest at six per cent from November 23, 1933, because that award had likewise been set aside by this court. While the mandate of this court upon the first appeal, the judgment of the circuit court in returning the record to the commission, and the commission’s order of March 16, 1935, separately and strictly construed, lend some support to the plaintiff’s contentions, it is our opinion that the contentions are without merit.

It will not be necessary to review the facts upon which compensation to Klicka was based. They were fully discussed in our previous decisions. It will, however, be necessary to review at some length the various orders, judgments, and mandates which have been made and entered in this long-drawn-out controversy.

The commission’s first award provided:

“Within ten days from date hereof the respondent, Hills Dry Goods Company, and its insurance carrier, Union Indemnity Company, shall pay to the applicant, Anthony Klicka, the sum of fifty and thirty-three one-hundredths dollars; and, on December 25, 1933, and monthly thereafter, the sum of eighteen and twenty one-hundredths dollars until the further sum of three thousand eight hundred eighty-nine and twenty one-hundredths dollars shall have been paid as primary compensation, or until the commission directs a different method of payment;
“And, further, within ten days from date hereof the respondent, Hills Dry Goods Company, shall pay to- the applicant, Anthony Klicka, the sum of three hundred seventy-three and sixty-six one-hundredths dollars as increased compensation; and, on December 25, 1933, and monthly thereafter, the sum of thirty-six and forty one-hundredths dollars until the further sum of seven thousand seven hundred seventy-eight and forty one-hundredths dollars shall have been paid as increased compensation, or until the commission directs a different method of payment;
“The respondent, Hills Dry Goods Company, shall also pay the sum of two hundred dollars to' apply on medical expense incurred by the applicant, such payment to be made di[518]*518rectlj to the parties rendering the service, or, in the event that payment has been made by the applicant, shall be paid to him.
“Such payments, when made, shall be in full release of liability herein.”

It is clear that the commission in the first paragraph of its award ordered the payment of “primary compensation” and that in the second paragraph it ordered the payment of “increased compensation,” which added together amounted to treble compensation. Treble compensation was based upon a finding that Klicka, the applicant, at the time of his injury was only sixteen years of age, and was engaged in operating an elevator fot the plaintiff as a part of his employment, which was, for one of his age, a prohibited employment. An action to review that award was thereafter commenced in the circuit court for Dane county. The circuit court by its judgment confirmed the award in all respects. Upon appeal from such judgment, it was held by this court that the evidence was wholly insufficient to support the commission’s findings upon which treble compensation was based. Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Comm. 217 Wis. 76, 79, 86, 258 N. W. 336. This court stated in its opinion that “the only question raised upon this appeal is the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the finding upon which treble indemnity was awarded.” The mandate of this court upon that appeal was as follows:

“The judgment appealed from is reversed, and cause remanded to the trial court, with directions to enter judgment setting aside the awa,rd of treble damages.”

While that mandate doubtless should have directed the circuit court to return the record to the commission, it is nevertheless clear that this court set aside only the award respecting treble compensation. Upon the return of the record to the circuit court, it ordered, in pursuance of the mandate of this court, “that the judgment heretofore entered by this court [519]*519on the 2d day of July, 1934, affirming the award of the Industrial Commission in all respects be and the same is hereby amended as follows:

“That part of the award of the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin dated November 23, 1933, allowing increased compensation to the defendant Anthony Klicka -be and the same is hereby reversed, vacated and set aside.”

Shortly thereafter the circuit court, on its own motion, because it considered that the order just hereinbefore recited had been inadvertently entered, set it aside and ordered “that the award of the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin herein dated November 23, 1933, so far as it awards treble damages, be and hereby is set aside.

“And let said order together with the record herein be returned to the Industrial Commission forthwith.”

No appeal was taken from that order or the judgment entered and the record was returned to the Industrial Commission. Upon the return of the record to the Industrial Commission, the commission, without notice and upon the evidence adduced at the original hearing, found that at the time Klicka was injured he was less than seventeen years of age, to wit, of the age of sixteen years, and at the time of his injury was employed, required, suffered, and permitted to work without written permit issued to him pursuant to the provisions of sec. 103.05, Stats., and was therefore entitled to double the amount of compensation otherwise recoverable. The following award was then made:

“Within ten days from date the respondent, Hills Dry Goods Company, Inc., shall pay to the applicant, Anthony Klicka, the sum of four hundred fifty-nine and eighty-three one-hundredths dollars as double compensation; that on March 25, 1935, and monthly thereafter, the sum of eighteen and twenty one-hundredths dollars until the further sum of three thousand six hundred sixteen and twenty one-hundredths dollars shall have been paid as double compensation, or until the commission directs a different method of payment.
[520]*520“That in the event of the failure of the respondent employer, Hills Dry Goods Company, Inc., to make payment of stick double compensation, or any part thereof, and of the inability of the applicant, Anthony Klicka, to make recovery of same, or any part thereof, then and then only shall the insurer, Union Indemnity Company, make payment to the applicant of the amount herein awarded

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Related

Flanner Co. v. Industrial Commission
213 N.W. 660 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1927)
Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Commission
258 N.W. 336 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1935)
Hills Dry Goods Co. v. Industrial Commission
267 N.W. 905 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1936)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
282 N.W. 612, 229 Wis. 515, 1938 Wisc. LEXIS 317, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hills-dry-goods-co-v-industrial-commission-wis-1938.