Johnson v. City of Red Oak

197 N.W.2d 548, 1972 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 834
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 11, 1972
Docket55115
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 197 N.W.2d 548 (Johnson v. City of Red Oak) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. City of Red Oak, 197 N.W.2d 548, 1972 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 834 (iowa 1972).

Opinion

*549 HARRIS, Justice.

This is an appeal in a workmen’s compensation claim. The commissioner awarded the claimant a benefit under chapter 85, Code, 1966. On appeal the trial court set aside that award and granted the claimant a pension under chapter 410, Code, 1966. We can not entirely agree either with the commissioner or the trial court.

Claimant, Kurt Johnson, hereinafter called Johnson, was a policeman employed by the City of Red Oak. While so engaged August 17, 1969, he was injured when struck by an automobile while placing a barricade in the trunk of his police patrol car. He suffered the loss of his right leg above the knee.

Johnson filed his workmen’s compensation claim under section 85.62, Code, 1966, which provided as follows :

“Any policeman (except those pensioned under the policemen’s pension fund created by law), * * * who shall sustain an injury while performing the duties of a law-enforcing officer and from causes arising out of and in the course of his official duty, or employment as a law-enforcing officer, become temporarily or permanently physically disabled * * * shall be entitled to compensation for all such injuries or disability together with statutory medical, nursing, hospital, surgery * * * expenses, and where the officer is paid from public funds said compensation shall be paid out of the general fund of the state.
“ * * *
“The industrial commissioner shall have jurisdiction as in other cases and it shall be the duty of the industrial commission to investigate and determine the compensability of the claims of such law-enforcing officers.”
Section 85.1(4), Code, 1966 provided:
“ * * * this chapter shall not apply to:
“ * * *
“4. As between a municipal corporation, city, or town, and any person or persons receiving any benefits under, or who may be entitled to benefits from, any * * * ‘policemen’s pension fund’ of any municipal corporation, city, or town * * * except as otherwise provided by law.”

Chapter 410, Code, 1966, provided for disabled and retired firemen and policemen. Pensions under the chapter were to be funded as provided in section 410.1, Code, 1966. It provided:

“Any city or town having an organized fire department may, and all cities having an organized police department or a paid fire department shall, levy annually a tax not to exceed one-eighth mill for each such department, for the purpose of creating firemen’s and policemen’s pension funds. * * * ”

Our determinations are not affected by important code changes enacted after this claim arose. 1

To understand the statutes involved it will be necessary to outline briefly certain legislative history. The first retirement systems for policemen were established by chapter 62, Acts of the 33rd General Assembly in 1909. This act, with some modification, appears as chapter 410, The Code.

The workmen’s compensation act, now chapter 85, The Code, was enacted in 1913 as chapter 147, Acts of the 35th General Assembly. A separate retirement system for policemen and firemen now appearing in chapter 411, The Code, was enacted as chapter 75, Acts of the 45th General Assembly — Extraordinary Session in 1934. *550 No claim is made here under chapter 411. This claim arose as an ordinary workmen’s compensation proceeding.

Because of the exclusory language in section 85.1(4) issue was joined on the question of whether Johnson should be excluded under chapter 85 for the reason he was entitled to disability compensation under chapter 410. The issue was disputed before the commissioner, the trial court, and on appeal before us.

The special provisions in section 85.62 were likewise disputed. The City of Red Oak claimed the section applicable so as to render the State of Iowa liable as insurance carrier. The State of Iowa took the position the section was inapplicable by reason of the exclusory language 2 therein contained. In this dispute the State also relied on the exclusory language appearing in section 85.1(4). 3

It will be observed the exclusory words used in sections 85.1(4) and 85.62 are similar but not identical. The background for this dissimilarity is found in our holding in Dickey v. Jackson, 181 Iowa 1155, 165 N. W. 387. Dickey had been a policeman for the city of Des Moines who became disabled and received a monthly pension. Thereafter Dickey successfully made a workmen’s compensation claim. The trustees of the Des Moines policemen’s pension fund learned of the workmen’s compensation award. They noted the provisions of the workmen’s compensation law now 85.2, provided “the payment of compensation * * * for an injury sustained * * * shall be exclusive, compulsory, and obligatory * * *.” Accordingly the trustees entered an administrative order terminating Dickey’s disability pension. An appeal resulted in an allowance to Dickey of both the workmen’s compensation award and reinstatement of his pension. We held the two chapters, now 85 and 410 not then to be mutually exclusive. We said, 181 Iowa 1155, 1160, 165 N.W. 387,389:

“ * * * The purposes of the case before us do not require us to attempt solution of the difficult question how far statutes dealing with these subjects may both stand and the benefits of both be enjoyed by the same individual. It would seem, however, under familiar principles, that if there be no express repeal of the earlier statute, and no demonstrable inconsistency between such statute and the one of a later enactment, both must be given effect according to their terms.” (Emphasis supplied.)

The legislature had already supplied the “demonstrable inconsistency” invited in the language quoted. After the Dickey case arose, but before our opinion was filed, the legislature amended 85.1(4) by adding the words “or who may be entitled to benefits from.” The effect of this amendment, adopted as chapter 418, Acts of the 37th General Assembly in 1917, was to render chapters 85 and 410 mutually exclusive.

I. As has been noted the industrial commissioner allowed the compensation claim for the stipulated 185 weeks and agreed medical expenses. On appeal to district court the argument was again made Johnson was not entitled to workmen’s compensation for the reason he was covered or should have been covered under chapter 410, The Code.

The trial court rightly subscribed to this argument. The 1917 amendment removed Johnson from coverage under the workmen’s compensation chapter. This removal of course encompassed those situations covered by section 85.62. He was removed for the obvious reason he was a person “who may be entitled to benefits from * * * (a) ‘policemen’s pension fund’ of the city of Red Oak.”

*551 Red Oak, perhaps innocently, was in default of an express legislative mandate. See section 410.1, The Code, quoted above.

II.

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197 N.W.2d 548, 1972 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 834, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-city-of-red-oak-iowa-1972.