Kelly v. Industrial Commission

561 N.E.2d 327, 203 Ill. App. 3d 626, 149 Ill. Dec. 49, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1469
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 25, 1990
DocketNo. 4-89-0754WC
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 561 N.E.2d 327 (Kelly 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
Kelly v. Industrial Commission, 561 N.E.2d 327, 203 Ill. App. 3d 626, 149 Ill. Dec. 49, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1469 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE BARRY

delivered the opinion of the court:

The petitioner, James M. Kelly, appeals from the circuit court’s order granting the respondent’s motion to quash his workers’ compensation judicial review as being untimely filed.

The petitioner filed an application for adjustment of claim under the Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 48, par. 138.1 et seq.), alleging that he had suffered an injury on November 1, 1982, while working for the respondent, the City of Urbana. On February 26, 1985, an arbitrator awarded him temporary total disability benefits pursuant to section 8(b) of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 48, par. 138.8(b)). In addition, the arbitrator found that he was permanently partially disabled to the extent of 12% (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 48, par. 138.8(d)(2)).

On review, the Industrial Commission (Commission) issued a predecision memorandum dated June 25, 1987, reversing the arbitrator and finding that the petitioner had failed to prove an accident and a causal connection. On December 4, 1987, the Commission issued a full written decision finding that the petitioner had failed to prove he sustained accidental injuries arising out of and in the course of his employment on November 1, 1982. The decision did not address the predecision memorandum finding of no causal connection. On December 10, 1987, the respondent filed a motion to recall the Commission’s decision for failure to include findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the causal connection issue.

On December 23, 1987, while the motion to recall was still pending before the Commission, the petitioner filed for judicial review in the circuit court. On September 16, 1988, the Commission issued an order denying the respondent’s motion to recall. Thereafter, the petitioner did not refile for judicial review. On December 6, 1988, the respondent filed a motion to quash the petitioner’s summons contending that it had not been timely filed pursuant to section 19(f) of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 48, par. 138.19(f)), as interpreted in International Harvester v. Industrial Comm’n (1978), 71 Ill. 2d 180, 374 N.E.2d 182. The circuit court agreed and dismissed the petitioner’s appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

The respondent had also filed a second motion to quash based on the petitioner’s alleged failure to name the City of Urbana as a party in his written request for summons. The circuit court never ruled on this second motion.

The petitioner first argues on appeal that the circuit court erred when it dismissed his appeal. He criticizes the rationale of the majority of the divided International Harvester court as being contrary to the plain meaning of section 19(f) and urges this court not to follow that reasoning.

Section 19(f) of the Act reads:

“The decision of the Commission acting within its powers, according to the provisions of paragraph (e) of this Section shall, in the absence of fraud, be conclusive unless reviewed as in this paragraph hereinafter provided. However, the Arbitrator or the Commission may on his or its own motion, or on the motion of either party, correct any clerical error or errors in computation within 15 days after the date of receipt of any award by such Arbitrator or any decision on review of the Commission and shall have the power to recall the original award on arbitration or decision on review, and issue in lieu thereof such corrected award or decision. Where such correction is made the time for review herein specified shall begin to run from the date of the receipt of the corrected award or decision.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 48, par. 138.19(f).

In International Harvester, the employer filed a section 19(f) motion with the Commission, requesting a correction in the Commission’s original decision to reflect that money had been paid to the claimant through the claimant’s nonoccupational group insurance plan. While the motion was still pending, the employer filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the circuit court. The Commission subsequently entered an order denying the motion, after which the employer failed to file another petition for a writ of certiorari. In holding that the circuit court should have dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction, the supreme court stated that upon the timely submission of a section 19(f) motion, the Commission retains jurisdiction over the cause until the motion is finally resolved and any petition for a writ of certiorari filed prior to the resolution of a section 19(f) motion to correct is premature, in that it is based on a decision which is not final and appealable.

The petitioner places much emphasis on the dissenting opinions in International Harvester, which construed the statute as providing that the time during which certiorari may be sought begins to run from the date of the original decision where no correction is made by the Commission. Furthermore, he claims that the majority’s holding has been criticized in subsequent cases. He cites PPG Industries, Inc. v. Industrial Comm’n (1982), 91 Ill. 2d 438, 438 N.E.2d 173, and Menozzi v. Industrial Comm’n (1983), 96 Ill. 2d 468, 451 N.E.2d 853, for that proposition.

We note that the above-mentioned cases cited by the petitioner do not criticize the majority’s holding in International Harvester, but rather follow it approvingly. The PPG and Menozzi courts discussed the rationale of the dissenters only in response to the appellants’ arguments relying on those dissents. In both cases, the courts disposed of the appellants’ arguments merely by noting that the facts that were of concern to the dissenters were not present. In light of the fact that the holding in International Harvester has not been overruled or eroded in any way, this court must follow it.

The petitioner next attempts to distinguish the instant case from International Harvester. He points out that in International Harvester it was the employer, not the employee, who was effectively deprived of judicial review. He also notes that in International Harvester the same party petitioned for a correction and sought judicial review. In that regard, he suggests that the refiling requirement invites abuse. According to the petitioner, the respondent could have filed a petition to correct, then dismissed it 21 days after the original decision, thereby depriving him of review if he had not filed a petition for judicial review within 20 days of the original decision.

We initially note that the petitioner’s employer-employee distinction is faulty. Section 19(f) does not differentiate between parties. Moreover, the International Harvester decision did not rest on any such distinction between employer and employee nor did it rest on the condition that the same party petitioning for a correction must also file for judicial review.

Regarding the petitioner’s potential abuse argument, we note that the same argument was rejected in American Can Co. v. Industrial Comm’n (1986), 149 Ill. App. 3d 83,

Related

Campbell-Peterson v. Industrial Comm'n
Appellate Court of Illinois, 1999
Campbell-Peterson v. Industrial Commission
711 N.E.2d 1219 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1999)
Hoshor v. Industrial Commission
671 N.E.2d 347 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1996)
Buroff v. Board of Fire & Police Commissioners
618 N.E.2d 930 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
McDuffee v. Industrial Commission
583 N.E.2d 598 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
561 N.E.2d 327, 203 Ill. App. 3d 626, 149 Ill. Dec. 49, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelly-v-industrial-commission-illappct-1990.