Padgett v. Industrial Commission

764 N.E.2d 125, 327 Ill. App. 3d 655, 261 Ill. Dec. 834, 2002 Ill. App. LEXIS 34
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 24, 2002
Docket1-01-0148WC Rel
StatusPublished

This text of 764 N.E.2d 125 (Padgett 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
Padgett v. Industrial Commission, 764 N.E.2d 125, 327 Ill. App. 3d 655, 261 Ill. Dec. 834, 2002 Ill. App. LEXIS 34 (Ill. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE McCULLOUGH

delivered the opinion of the court:

Claimant, Brian J. Padgett, as a minor child and unemancipated minor child of Joseph Padgett, deceased, appeals from the order of the circuit court of Cook County confirming the decision of the Illinois Industrial Commission (Commission). Respondent is American Presidential Trucking. The arbitrator denied claimant benefits, and the Commission affirmed. The issues are whether (1) the respondent may assert a lien against claimant’s benefits because of a settlement of a wrongful death action, and (2) the Commission decision that claimant was not entitled to benefits beyond the amount of the settlement is against the manifest weight of the evidence. We affirm.

On October 3, 1997, claimant’s mother, Shirley M. Padgett (Shirley), filed an application for adjustment of claim seeking benefits for the death of her husband, Joseph E. Padgett, as a result of an accidental injury on July 17, 1991 (97WC53008). On that application for adjustment of claim, Shirley listed claimant as a dependent of Joseph. On July 15, 1998, clamant filed a separate application for adjustment of claim seeking death benefits (98WC37111). The July 15, 1998, application showed only claimant as a dependent and did not list any other party as dependent. Both applications show the same counsel. The matters were consolidated before the arbitrator.

Shirley Padgett Gollmer testified that she was married to Joseph Padgett at the time of the accidental injury on July 17, 1991, and his subsequent death. On the date of the accident, claimant was 15 years old. Joseph died on July 18, 1991, due to an adverse reaction to the anesthesia given at the time of the surgical repair of his fingers that were injured on July 17, 1991. There was a settlement in a third-party litigation. She understood that, as a result of the settlement, she would not receive any additional death benefits. She was not seeking additional benefits. There was an order of the trial court allowing the settlement to be introduced in this case. On her federal income tax returns for 1994 through 1997, she claimed claimant as a dependent, and she continued to provide more than 50% of his support, including his school and tuition, room and board. Prior to Joseph’s death, she and her husband provided more than 50% of claimant’s support. Claimant was a beneficiary of the estate. At the time of the settlement, two checks were cut. She did not receive claimant’s share. After completing high school, claimant enrolled at the University of Southern Indiana and began studies there in August 1995 on a full-time basis. At the time of the arbitration hearing, he was a full-time student. Claimant was Joseph’s only child. While the wrongful death proceeding was pending, Shirley received workers’ compensation benefits. She testified she was not making a claim for additional funeral expenses. Shirley remarried on October 1, 1994.

Claimant (born November 27, 1975) testified he was 23 years old at the time of the arbitration hearing. His mother and stepfather paid for his tuition, room and board. In 1995, he earned $1,934; in 1996, he earned $3,100; and in 1997, he earned $4,234. During the summers, he went to his mother’s home. He received a structured settlement. He was not sure what he could and could not disclose about the settlement. An order of confidentiality was placed on the settlement. He anticipated graduating from college in May 2000.

As a result of the settlement of the third-party litigation, the amount of that settlement was not to be disclosed outside of the hearing. The arbitrator reviewed the documents, but they were kept out of the record in this workers’ compensation case following a discussion off the record precipitated by claimant’s objections. Claimant did not want to disclose the wrongful death settlement terms.

As to the claim of the widow (97WC53008), the arbitrator found that, in Cook County case No. 92 — L—690, an action by Shirley Padgett, widow and administrator of the estate of Joseph Padgett, Jr., deceased, the wrongful death action was settled in November 1996 for an amount that was subject to a confidentiality order. The arbitrator found that the settlement exceeded the value of 20 years of death benefits at a rate of $350.60 per week, which is the total amount of benefits to which she would be entitled. The arbitrator further found that respondent was entitled to a credit for all of its financial liability on account of the death of decedent by reason of the settlement in 92 — L—690 and further found that Shirley Padgett had expressly waived her claim for any benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 1998)). The arbitrator’s determination of the widow’s award was not appealed, and no issue is presented in this case regarding the claim of the widow.

As to claimant, the arbitrator found that, although the order of settlement was silent as to any claim claimant had against respondent, claimant did testify that he received a separate check as part of the estate settlement and opened a separate bank account. Shirley, as representative of the estate, filed a wrongful death action against Cook County Hospital for the death of her husband. Noting that the amount recovered in the wrongful death action was for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin of the decedent and that claimant is a next of kin under the Wrongful Death Act (740 ILCS 180/0.01 et seq. (West 1998)), the arbitrator found that section 5(b) of the Act (820 ILCS 305/5(b) (West 1998)) authorized a workers’ compensation lien to attach to the payment of the wrongful death settlement. The arbitrator found that respondent was entitled to a credit against the amount of its liability to claimant up to the full amount of the civil settlement and that the civil settlement amount exceeded the maximum amount for which respondent would be liable to claimant under the Act. The arbitration decision explained that the maximum amount to which claimant would be entitled would be $350.60 per week for the period that he was enrolled as a student until he reached age 25. The arbitrator denied benefits to claimant. With a minor modification not relevant to the issues in this appeal, the Commission affirmed and adopted the arbitrator’s decision.

We initially address whether the respondent may assert a lien against claimant’s benefits because of a settlement of a wrongful death action. Claimant disagrees with the interpretation placed on section 5(b) of the Act and section 2 of the Wrongful Death Act by Borden v. Servicemaster Management Services, 278 Ill. App. 3d 924, 663 N.E.2d 153 (1996). Borden relied on Esin v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 99 Ill. App. 3d 75, 424 N.E.2d 1307 (1981), and Page v. Hibbard, 119 Ill. 2d 41, 518 N.E.2d 69 (1987). The language of the first paragraph of section 2 of the Wrongful Death Act (740 ILCS 180/2 (West 1998)) and section 5(b) of the Act is the same as it was at the time of the decision in Borden.

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Related

Page v. Hibbard
518 N.E.2d 69 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1987)
Foutch v. O'BRYANT
459 N.E.2d 958 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1984)
Borden v. Servicemaster Management Services
663 N.E.2d 153 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1996)
Prince v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co.
395 N.E.2d 592 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1979)
Malatesta v. Mitsubishi Aircraft International, Inc.
655 N.E.2d 1093 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1995)
Esin v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
424 N.E.2d 1307 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1981)
Selleck v. Industrial Commission
598 N.E.2d 443 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)
Scott v. Industrial Commission
703 N.E.2d 81 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
764 N.E.2d 125, 327 Ill. App. 3d 655, 261 Ill. Dec. 834, 2002 Ill. App. LEXIS 34, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/padgett-v-industrial-commission-illappct-2002.