Mills v. Industrial Commission

530 P.2d 385, 23 Ariz. App. 28, 1975 Ariz. App. LEXIS 464
Court of Appeals of Arizona·Decided January 9, 1975·No. No. 1 CA-IC 993·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

DONOFRIO, Presiding Judge.

This case is before the Court by writ of certiorari to review the lawfulness of the decision upon review issued by the Industrial Commission on May 4, 1973 affirming the decision of the hearing officer.

On July 13, 1971 petitioner Mills filed a claim for benefits alleging the sustaining of an injury to his left thumb while using a power saw in the course of his employment with Clyde Nelson Construction Company. The carrier accepted petitioner’s industrial claim by notice of claim status dated July 29, 1971. On August 13, 1971 the Industrial Commission entered its notice of average monthly wage determined at $587.-33. This determination was never challenged. Approximately 15 months after his initial injury, after a temporary return to work, and after surgery on his thumb, petitioner returned to work on August 13, 1972, his temporary compensation being terminated on that date. Shortly thereafter on September 7, 1972 petitioner’s medical condition became stationary, his medical benefits were terminated, and he was discharged with a permanent disability on that date. Contemporaneous with the notice of claim status reflecting the above, the carrier issued its permanent scheduled award on Sept. 19, 1972 determining that petitioner was entitled to a scheduled award due to the 50% functional loss of use of his left thumb. Petitioner timely requested a hearing in regard to this scheduled award, claiming that he was entitled to an unscheduled award.

At the formal hearing of this protest all the evidence was directed to the issue of whether petitioner had sustained a prior permanent injury resulting in a loss of earning capacity. No evidence was presented and no objection was made to the earlier average monthly wage determination by the Commission. In addition, no objections were raised concerning petitioner’s status or entitlement to temporary compensation benefits between his return to work on August 13, 1972 and the termination of his medical benefits three weeks later on Sept. 17, 1972.

Petitioner first seeks review of his average monthly wage determination based on the failure of the Commission to comply with A.R.S. § 23-1061 (F). The pertinent portion of that section reads:

“The commission shall thereupon make its own independent determination of the [30] average monthly wage pursuant to § 23-1041. The commission shall within thirty days after receipt of such notice notify the employee, employer and carrier of such determination. The amount determined by the commission shall be payable retroactive to the first date of entitlement. The first payment of compensation shall be accompanied by a notice on a form prescribed by the commission stating the manner in which the amount of compensation was determined.”

It is claimed by petitioner that no item in the file indicates that the Commissioners considered the matter of petitioner’s average monthly wage and that because the file is silent as to any action by the Commission, there is a presumption that the Commission did not act, citing Verdugo v. Industrial Commission, 15 Ariz.App. 155, 487 P.2d 1 (1971). This decision, however, was vacated by our Supreme Court in Verdugo v. Industrial Commission, 108 Ariz. 44, 492 P.2d 705 (1972). Nonetheless, the Supreme Court decision in Verdugo does indicate that when the file is silent as to the action of the Commission in making the alleged award, the presumption is that the Commission did not make the award, 108 Ariz. at 49, 492 P.2d 705. In holding this way, the Supreme Court was laying to rest the split in interpretation of Department A and Department B of the Court of Appeals as to this issue of presumption. In following the decisions of this Department in Cauley v. Industrial Commission, 13 Ariz.App. 276, 475 P.2d 761 (1970) and Land v. Industrial Commission, 15 Ariz.App. 117, 486 P.2d 229 (1971), the Supreme Court said:

“ * * * In the case at bar, the evidence as to whether the Commission did consider and act is readily available to the Commission, while proof that they did not is practically impossible for the petitioner to show. We feel the presumption should be that the Commission did not act absent something in the file showing that the Commission did, in fact, consider the matter and act accordingly : * * * ” 108 Ariz. at 48, 492 P.2d at 709.

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Mills v. Industrial Commission, 530 P.2d 385, 23 Ariz. App. 28, 1975 Ariz. App. LEXIS 464 (Ark. Ct. App. 1975).

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