Southwestern Light & Power Co. v. Griffin

1929 OK 185, 276 P. 774, 136 Okla. 138, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 151
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 23, 1929
Docket19792
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1929 OK 185 (Southwestern Light & Power Co. v. Griffin) 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
Southwestern Light & Power Co. v. Griffin, 1929 OK 185, 276 P. 774, 136 Okla. 138, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 151 (Okla. 1929).

Opinion

HUNT, J.

This is an original proceeding in this court to review an order of the State Industrial Commission, entered on the 8th day of September, 1928, wherein the said Industrial Commission commuted from weekly payments to one lump sum, the remaining amount due claimant, said order being in part as follows:

“Now, on this 8th day of September, 1928, the State Industrial Commission being regularly in session, this cause comes on for consideration on application of claimant for *139 a lump sum settlement; and the ■ Commission, after examining said application and being otherwise well and sufficiently advised in the premises, finds: That the claimant, while in the employment of the respondent and in the course of his employment, was injured on the 14th day of September, 1927, which injury resulted in the permanent total disability of claimant, for which he is entitled to compensation for a period of 500 weeks at the rate of $18 per week; and it appearing that 72 weeks and' 4% days have been paid to' claimant, and that it -would be to the interest of the claimant and in the furtherance of justice to commute to a lump sum the remaining 427 weeks and 1% clays compensation, amounting to $7,690, the present worth of which, after deducting- three per cent, compound discount, is $6,826.38, and it appearing that at this time the expectancy of life of the claimant extends beyond 427 weeks and 1% days,
“It is ordered, that within ten days from this date the respondent herein, Southwestern Light & Power Company, pay to the claimant, William B. Griffin, in one lump sum $6,S26.3S, being the present worth of 427 weeks and 1% days compensation due said claimant, and also pay all medical expenses incurred by said claimant as a result of said’ accident. * * *”

An award previously made by which claimant was allowed compensation at the rate of $18 per week for the full period of 500 weeks having become final, claimant filed, on September 5, 1928, a motion asking for a lump sum settlement as provided by section 7299, C. O. S. 1921, which is as follows:

“Compensation ufnder the provisions of this act shall be payable periodically, in accordance with the method of payment of the wages of the employee at the time of his injury and shall be so provided for in any award; but the Commission may determine that all payment or payments may be made monthly or at any other period, as it may deem advisable. The Commission, whenever it shall so deem advisable, may commute such periodical payments to one or more lump sum payments, provided the same shall be in the interest of justice. All payments as required by the award shall be made to the injured employee in the manner and form prescribed by the Commission. And employers and insurance companies shall for such purposes be permitted, or when necessary to protect the interests of the beneficiary may be required, to make deposits with the Commission to secure the prompt and convenient payment of such compensation.”

On September 8, 1928, the Commission made its order as above set out.

Petitioner contends that, since under section 7299, C. O. S. 1921, the Commission has authority to commute the periodical payments to one or more lump sum payments, only provided the same shall be in the interest of justice, that justice here means justice to both claimant and respondent, and that before this essential fact could be determined by the Commission it was necessary to conduct a hearing and hear evidence after notice to the parties, and having failed to give notice and conduct a hearing, the Commission was without jurisdiction or authority to make the order herein complained of, and that same is not sustained by sufficient evidence and is contrary to law.

The identical question here presented was decided adversely to petitioner in the case of Livingston Oil Corporation v. Henson, 90 Okla. 76, 215 Pac. 1057. It was held in the above-styled case that when proper notice was given as required on the hearing of the original claim, and award was made, jurisdiction was acquired by the Commission for all purposes, and that no notice is required on a motion to commute the periodical payments. The syllabus is as follows:

“Neither chapter 246. Session Laws 1915 (Workmen’s Compensation Laws), nor the rules and regulations of the State Industrial Commission require notice of a hearing on a motion filed in a proceeding after the State Industrial Commission has acquired jurisdiction of such proceeding, by proper notice and the appearance of the parties.
“By the provisions of section 15, art. 2, cb. 246, Session Laws 1915, the State Industrial Commission, whenever it shall deem it advisable, may commute the periodical payments of compensation to one or more lump sum payments, provided the same shall be in the interest of justice, and justice in this connection means the rendering to every man his due, so that neither party may gain by the other’s loss.
“Record examined, and held, that the order of th’e State Industrial Commission commuting the periodical payments of compensation to one lump sum payment was in the interest of justice.
“The constitutional provision that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law requires process or notice only where original jurisdiction is exercised, and not where the decision is upon a collateral question in the case where the parties are already before the court.”

The case is cited and relied on by respondent herein, and we have carefully reviewed same and have examined the orig *140 inal record and briefs on die in this court, and in our judgment every contention herein urged by petitioner was considered and passed on therein, and same is therefore decisive of the instant case. The facts were almost identical to the facts here, and the same contention as to necessity for notice and hearing made there as here.

The only case cited by petitioner herein is Lincoln Water & Light Co. v. Industrial Commission, an Illinois case reported in 332 Ill. 64, 163 N. E. 381. This case, however, is not in point here, for we find upon examination of the Illinois statute on this subject, being article 209-, chapter 4S, Illinois Revised Statutes 1927, that same differs materially from our statute in that it requires that a proper showing be made after notice to the interested parties before a lump sum settlement is ordered.

Petitioner insists that even under our statute some evidence is necessary upon which to base a finding that it is in the interest of justice that a lump sum settlement be ordered, and, while it might bo said that the evidence adduced before the Commission when the original award was made might properly be considered by the Commission as sufficient evidence upon which to base an order for a lump sum settlement, we are nevertheless impressed with the reasonableness of petitioner’s contention in this regard and rather. inclined to the view that the better practice on the part of the Commission would be to conduct a hearing, after due notice, on motions of this kind, but, in view of the language used in section 7299, supra, and the former decisions of this court construing same, we cannot say that such a hearing and notice thereof is required under the statute.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Opinion No. (1979)
Oklahoma Attorney General Reports, 1979
Barnett Petroleum Co. v. Holder
1939 OK 372 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1939)
Asplund Construction Co. v. Williams
1931 OK 362 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1929 OK 185, 276 P. 774, 136 Okla. 138, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southwestern-light-power-co-v-griffin-okla-1929.