Lahoma Oil Co. v. State Industrial Commission

1918 OK 500, 175 P. 836, 71 Okla. 160, 15 A.L.R. 817, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 898
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 3, 1918
Docket9660
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 1918 OK 500 (Lahoma Oil Co. v. State Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lahoma Oil Co. v. State Industrial Commission, 1918 OK 500, 175 P. 836, 71 Okla. 160, 15 A.L.R. 817, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 898 (Okla. 1918).

Opinion

OWEN, J.

Petitioners appeal from, an award made by the Industrial Commission on November 26, 1917, to Timothy A. Downing for $5,000, to. be pa-id at the rate) of $10 per week for a period of 500 weeks. After the appeal was perfected to this court, Downing died as the result of the injuries for which the award w(as made, and, the action was revived in the name of Malinda Downing, administratrix of his estate. The ease is before us on motion to dismiss the action on account .of the death of Downing.

In support of the'motion to dismiss it is contended, first, that an award made by the commission under the Workmen’s Compensation] Daw (Laws 1915, c., 246) does not confer upon the injured workman a property right or an interest which upon his death becomes ,a part of his estate; and, second, that the Compensation- Act does not apply to accidents resulting in death.

Two rights of act-ioni exist under the law of this state for wrongful injuries resulting in the death of a person. One is the right of action which survives ito- the estate, or the personal representatives, to recover damages sustained by the estate, and for pain and suffering, medical expenses, etc. The other is the right ,of action, given for the benefit of the widow and children or next of kin for the pecuniary loss sustained by them on account of the death.. It was held by this court in the case of St. L. & S. F. R. R. Co. v. Goode, Adm., 42 Okla. 784, 142 Pac. 1185, L. R. A. 1915E, 1141, that a recovery on one such cause of action does not bar recovery on the other.

The language .of section 1, art. 6, of the Compensation Aet, is:

“It is not intended that any of the provisions of this act shall apply in cases of accidents resulting in death, and no right of action for recovery of damages for injuries resulting in death is intended to be denied or -affected.”

Counsel for respondents contend that this section applies only bo the right of action accruing to the next ,of kin for pecuniary loss sustained on account of the wrongful death of the employe arguing that the Compensation Act supplants the right of action for pain, suffering, medical expenses, etc., and -that an award made to the employe vests at his death in his representatives. Wte do not agree with, this contention.

The compensation to be paid to the employe does not depend upon whether the injury was wrongfully caused by the negligence of the employer. lit is paid when an accidental injury is sustained arising out of and in the course of the employment, without regard to the fault as a cause of such injury, except where the injury is sustained by the willful intention of the injured employe, or where the injury results directly from the willful failure of the in *161 jured employe to use a guard oí protection furnished for hie use. The act recognizes that a personal injury suffered by an employe arising out of and in the course of employment is an incident of 1he business in which he is employed. In consequence of that, the act provides fcbiat, as a matter of justice, the resulting burden should .be borne by the 'business without regard to the question of fault on the pant iotf the employer or employe.

The act makes no reference to the payment of the unpaid installments of the awarded, in the event of death of the employe, to defendants or nest of kin. It, in effect, provides that the employe, if accidentally injured, shall receive in lieu of his wages the amount fixed by the terms of the act. The average weekly wage of the employe is taken as a basis upon which to compute the compensation. Had there been no injury, the payment of wages would cease on the termination of ithe relation of master and servant. AVhen the relation is terminated by death of the employe, the occasion for making compensation ini lieu of wlages comes to an end.

The act ■ provides that the compensation shall be paid only toi the employe, and that the claim for such compensation shall not he assigned and shall be exempt from claims of creditors. The cause of action fioir pain, suffering, medical expenses, etc., arising from a wrongful injury, survives under the statute (section 5281, Rev. Laws 1910) to the .personal representatives) when .the injury results in the death iof the employe, and becomes part of his estate and is subject to the claims of creditors. Section 7, art. 23, of the Constitution pmo-vides:

“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.”

By the terms of the Compensation Act the amount of compensation for each injury is limited and 'based upon the amount of the weekly wage. The provision excepting injuries resulting in death was no doubt incorporated so as to make the act in harmony with this provision of the Constitution under which the amount recoverable cannot be limited if death results from the injury.

So long as the employe was alive, the Industrial Commission would have jurisdiction to hear and determine his claim for compensation, and this jurisdiction would be exclusive of the courts of 'the state under section 2, art. 6, of the act. When his injuries resulted in death, the Compensation Act, under the terms of section 1 of article 6, above quoted, would no longer apply, and the Industrial Commission would have no further jurisdiction. The cause of action, if any, arising from the death resulting from such injuries, would survive to such representatives, under section 5281 of the statute as though the Compensation Act had never become a law. That section of the statute provides for the survival of ■the action if the employe might have maintained an action had he lived. The effect of the Compensation Act was to afford to the . employe a special procedure under which to maintain his action! where the injuries do not result in death. After thfe death his representatives may maintain their action, hut not under the Compensation Act.

This construction avoids any conflict between the Compensation Act, section 5281 of the statute, and section 7, ar. 23, of the-Constitution. The act must he construed to he in harmony with • the provisions of the Constitution and the various sections of the statute law of the state, so as to give meaning and effect to all, if such construction is possible without doing violence to the spirit and language of the act. Roma Oil Co. v. Long. 68 Okla. 267, 173 Pac. 957; Matthews v. Rucker, 67 Okla. 218, 170 Pac. 492.

Our attention has not been called to amiy decision exactly in point on the question involved here. The compensation acts of the various states, to which onr attention has been called, differ materially from the provisions of our act. Tbe acts of some of the Other states include accidents resulting in death, and provide for payment of compensation to the dependent in the event of the death -of the employe, in this respect differ1 in'g'fnoim. the act in this state. The courts of New Jersey, Massachusettes, and New Tork hold that payments cease at the death of the payee. The Supreme Court of Ohio, in the case iof State ex rel. Munding v. Industrial Commission, 92 Ohio St. 434, 111 N. E. 299, L. R. A. 1916D, 955, Ann. Cas.1917-D, 1162, held the award for a fixed sum payable weekly for six years to a dependent em-.

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Bluebook (online)
1918 OK 500, 175 P. 836, 71 Okla. 160, 15 A.L.R. 817, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 898, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lahoma-oil-co-v-state-industrial-commission-okla-1918.