Case Title: Bunker v. National Gypsum Co.

Citation: 441 N.E.2d 8

Docket Number: 1082S403

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1982-10-26T00:00:00Z

Document:
441 N.E.2d 8 (1982)
Richard D. BUNKER, Appellant,
v.
NATIONAL GYPSUM COMPANY, Appellee.
No. 1082S403.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
October 26, 1982.
*9 M. Robert Benson, Ronald E. James, Sowers & Benson, Fort Wayne, for appellant.
Geoffrey Segar, Edward J. Ohleyer, James L. Petersen, Ice, Miller, Donadio & Ryan, Indianapolis, for appellee.
Michael A. Bergin, Locke, Reynolds, Boyd & Weisell, Indianapolis, for amicus curiae The Indiana Legal Foundation.
PIVARNIK, Justice.
This cause comes to us on a Petition for Transfer from the Third District Court of Appeals. Plaintiff-Appellant-Respondent, Richard D. Bunker, discovered in July, 1976, that he was afflicted with asbestosis. On June 17, 1978, he applied to the Industrial Board of Indiana for disability benefits under the "Indiana Workmen's Occupational Diseases Act." He alleged that his permanent disability was due to his work-related exposure to asbestos dust. The Industrial Board held that Respondent's claim was barred by the statute of limitations provision of the Occupational Diseases Act. Specifically, the Board found that Respondent's disability had not arisen within three years of the date of his last job-related exposure and therefore was not compensable. On appeal, two of the three judges for the Third District found the statute of limitations unconstitutional and reversed the Industrial Board. Defendant-Appellee-Petitioner, the National Gypsum Company, subsequently brought this Petition for Transfer. We find the Court of Appeals in error and accordingly vacate their opinion and affirm the Industrial Board.
The material facts in this case are not in dispute. They show that Mr. Bunker was first employed by the National Gypsum Company in February, 1949. From that time until November, 1950, he was regularly *10 exposed to asbestos fibers while supervising a blending process for the manufacture of an accoustical treatment product. In November, 1950, he was permanently transferred to other work not involving asbestos. Mr. Bunker voluntarily left National Gypsum's employ in March, 1966. In July, 1976, Mr. Bunker underwent exploratory surgery and was diagnosed as suffering from asbestosis.
In Respondent's appeal of a companion action sounding in negligence, the Third District held that Respondent's exclusive remedy lay under Indiana's Occupational Diseases Act. Bunker v. National Gypsum Co., (1980) Ind. App., 406 N.E.2d 1239, 1241. The Court of Appeals also noted that no benefit claim can accrue unless and until an occupational disease actually causes disablement or death. Id. In adjudging Respondent's instant action under the Occupational Diseases Act, the Third District found that the Act's three year statute of limitations represents a violation of Respondent's constitutional right to due process and therefore must be nullified. That Court held:
Bunker v. National Gypsum Co., (1981) Ind. App., 426 N.E.2d 422, 425.
The section of the "Indiana Workmen's Occupational Diseases Act" at issue is Ind. Code § 22-3-7-9(e) (Burns 1974):
Ind. Code § 22-3-7-9(e) (Burns 1974) provides that compensation will be payable for a disability resulting from an exposure to asbestos only if the disability arises within three years of the date of last exposure. This legislation is very explicit. For example, the statute distinguishes asbestos-related disabilities from disabilities due to occupational disease caused by radiation exposure. In radiation cases, compensation is payable only if disability occurs within two years of the date on which the employee discovers or reasonably should have discovered his disease and its relationship to his employment.
Since the undisputed facts before the Industrial Board show that Respondent's last job-related exposure to asbestos dust was in November, 1950, the statute of limitation in this case began to run at that time. The facts also show that Respondent discovered his disability in July, 1976, leading us to the conclusion that his disability arose approximately twenty-three years after the deadline dictated by the Occupational Diseases Act. The facts clearly indicate, therefore, that Respondent's asbestos-related disability arose after the expiration of the statutory period within which all asbestos-related disability claims must have been brought.
Respondent seeks to avoid the direct application of the three year limitation period and to circumvent a foreclosure of his claim by arguing that "it would abridge his constitutional right to a remedy to say that the time for claiming the remedy had passed even before it accrued." He offers this due process argument as a reason for finding the limitation provision unconstitutional. *11 The Court of Appeals essentially adopted Respondent's argument. In so doing, they took it upon themselves to independently consider and evaluate the nature of asbestosis. The Court of Appeals introduced medical evidence suggesting that the occurrence and causation of asbestosis is not dependent upon a long continued exposure to asbestos. Other evidence was presented, however, which clearly indicates a direct correlation between the number of years of exposure to asbestos and the incidence of asbestosis. They also reported that after a person is exposed to asbestos, there is a long period of latency before asbestosis can be diagnosed. Based upon these findings, the Court of Appeals deemed Respondent entitled to protection under the Occupational Diseases Act.
We now find that the Court of Appeals must be reversed because they erred in the following two respects:
Our duty in construing an Indiana statute is to give effect to the intention of our legislature. This is because the Indiana Constitution explicitly vests in the General Assembly the exclusive power to legislate. Ind.Const. art. 4, § 1. This Court has repeatedly warned that the judiciary must not usurp the constitutional function of the legislature. We have held:
Johnson v. St. Vincent Hospital, (1980) Ind., 404 N.E.2d 585, 591. This Court and the Court of Appeals must not, therefore, substitute judicial judgment for legislative judgment in legislative matters that neither affect fundamental rights nor proceed along suspect lines. Short v. Texaco, Inc., (1980) Ind., 406 N.E.2d 625, 632, aff'd, 454 U.S. 516, 102 S. Ct. 781, 70 L. Ed. 2d 738 (1982); see also: Indiana Aeronautics Commission v. Ambassadair, Inc., (1977) 267 Ind. 137, 147, 368 N.E.2d 1340, 1346, cert. denied, 436 U.S. 905, 98 S. Ct. 2235, 56 L. Ed. 2d 403 (1978). Further, an act of the legislature must be afforded a presumption of constitutionality. Accordingly, the burden to rebut this presumption is upon any challenger and all reasonable doubts must be resolved in favor of an act's constitutionality. Dague v. Piper Aircraft Corp., (1981) Ind., 418 N.E.2d 207, 214, reh. denied. These are well established rules. This Court has repeated and elaborated upon these rules in Sidle v. Majors, (1976) 264 Ind. 206, 208, 341 N.E.2d 763, 766, reh. denied, as follows:
See also: Shettle v. McCarthy, (1981) Ind., 423 N.E.2d 594, 597; Dept. of Financial *12 Institutions v. Holt, (1952) 231 Ind. 293, 300, 108 N.E.2d 629, 633. In short, while appellate courts may review the power of the legislature to act, they must not evaluate the policies adopted by the legislature.
As with other legislation, legislative statutes of limitations carry a general presumption of constitutionality. We have previously noted:
Shideler v. Dwyer, (1981) Ind., 417 N.E.2d 281, 283. A statute of limitations will comport with the constitutional demand for due process so long as it provides a reasonable time for the bringing of an action. Ochoa v. Hernandez y Morales, (1913) 230 U.S. 139, 161, 33 S. Ct. 1033, 1042, 57 L. Ed. 1427, 1438; Guthrie v. Wilson, (1959) 240 Ind. 188, 194, 162 N.E.2d 79, 81. In Guthrie, we quoted from Sansberry v. Hughes, (1910) 174 Ind. 638, 640, 92 N.E. 783, 784, as follows:
The legislature has the sole duty and responsibility to determine what constitutes a reasonable time for the bringing of an action unless the period allowed is so manifestly insufficient that it represents a denial of justice. Wilson v. Iseminger, (1902) 185 U.S. 55, 63, 22 S. Ct. 573, 576, 46 L. Ed. 804, 808; see also: Antoni v. Greenhow, (1883) 107 U.S. 769, 775, 2 S. Ct. 91, 96, 27 L. Ed. 468, 471.
This Court has previously upheld the authority of the legislature to alter a statutory, pecuniary right by the adoption of a statutory period of limitation shortening the time within which a claim can be brought. In Wright-Bachman, Inc. v. Hodnett, (1956) 235 Ind. 307, 133 N.E.2d 713, a constitutional challenge was made to the statute of limitations in Indiana's Workmen's Compensation Act. Affirming the validity of that limitation, this Court held:
Id., 235 Ind. at 323, 133 N.E.2d  at 720.
The Court of Appeals has contravened settled case law in finding the statute of limitations of the Occupational Diseases Act unconstitutional. This same issue was decided by the Appellate Court in 1958. Woldridge v. Ball Brothers Co., Inc., (1958) 129 Ind. App. 420, 150 N.E.2d 911, trans. denied. In Woldridge, the claimant sought to be awarded benefits for his total and permanent disability due to his work-related exposure to silica dust. The full Industrial Board found that the claimant had not been exposed to silica dust during the last three years of his employment and that his disablement had not occurred within three years of his last silica exposure. Accordingly, the Appellate Court denied the claim pursuant to the same statute of limitations now at issue.
This Court has previously decided upon the constitutionality of the time limitations incorporated into Indiana's Malpractice Act, Ind. Code §§ 16-9.5-1-1 through 16-9.5-10-5 (Burns Supp. 1982). In Johnson v. St. Vincent Hospital, Inc., 404 N.E.2d  at 603, appellant argued that the special time limitation and legal disability provision of the Malpractice Act was contrary to his rights to due process and equal protection of the law. The challenged provision of the Act was:
This provision shortened the general limitation period on actions of this type. In upholding the constitutionality of this statute of limitations, we held:
Johnson v. St. Vincent Hospital, Inc., 404 N.E.2d  at 604. See also: Rohrabaugh v. Wagoner, (1981) Ind., 413 N.E.2d 891, reh. denied.
In the case at bar, Respondent alleges and the Court of Appeals has held that the statute of limitations in Indiana's Occupational Diseases Act is unconstitutional. In questioning the wisdom of the legislature, the Court of Appeals has in effect rewritten this law thereby usurping the legislature's constitutionally mandated function. If we were to affirm the Court of Appeals in their decision, the legislative intent to provide a definitive time period within which all occupational disease claims must be brought would be frustrated. Specifically, Ind. Code § 22-3-7-9(e) would be meaningless because all disabilities caused by a work-related disease would be compensable under the Act. In addition, the statutory scheme providing for the application of a "discovery" rule only in radiation exposure cases would be subverted. We will not allow such a blatant abuse of judicial power. We have previously found constitutional a statute similar to the instant one. See generally: Rohrabaugh, supra; Johnson, *14 supra. We now find the statute of limitations provision of the Occupational Diseases Act to be constitutional in all respects.
The Court of Appeals cited medical evidence on which it based its conclusion that the period of limitations in the Occupational Diseases Act is of such relatively short duration as to be a denial of the constitutional right to due process. We find that the Third District erred by its use of this evidence. First, we question whether the conclusions of the Court of Appeals can even be reached by an analysis of the medical authorities they relied on. The cited treatises deal with the relationship between the onset of asbestosis and the length of time one was previously exposed to asbestos. The findings purport that the incidence of asbestosis is drastically increased the longer one is exposed to asbestos. Apparently the converse is also true and a short period of exposure should result in minimal, if any, damage. The facts in this case show that Respondent was exposed to asbestos for only about twenty-two months, a relatively short period of time. Accordingly, a legislator standing in the past may have reasonably concluded that Respondent would probably never be afflicted by asbestosis and therefore would probably never be in need of protection or relief. Second, all of the medical materials used by the Court of Appeals were found outside of the record. Scant medical evidence was presented to the Industrial Board and none comparable to that found in the Court of Appeal's opinion appears in the record of this case. We have recently held:
Hales & Hunter Co. v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., (1981) Ind., 428 N.E.2d 1225, 1227. It was, therefore, improper for the Court of Appeals to consider this evidence in arriving at its opinion.
It is within the duties and responsibilities of the legislature to keep itself advised of the general progress of medical learning and to make the determination as to whether or not new or revised legislation is needed. Not only being so charged, the legislature is also best equipped to make this determination. A cursory examination of the legislative history of the Indiana Occupational Diseases Act shows that since its inception in 1937, the legislature has on several occasions updated the Act through amendment. In fact, the proviso which relates to occupational disabilities caused by radiation exposure was added in 1961. Again in 1974 when disabilities due to coal dust inhalation were made subject to the three year limitation period, the General Assembly indicated that it was aware of its need to review and revise the Occupational Diseases Act. If this statute requires further updating through amendment, it remains the duty and responsibility of the legislature to do so. There are no grounds for finding any constitutional infirmity in the present form of this statute.
Transfer is hereby granted. The opinion of the Court of Appeals is reversed and vacated, and the award of the Industrial Board is affirmed.
GIVAN, C.J., and DeBRULER and PRENTICE, JJ., concur.
HUNTER, J., dissents with opinion.
HUNTER, Justice, dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent from the majority's disposition of National Gypsum Company's petition to transfer, wherein that company sought review of the Court of Appeals' opinion found at Bunker v. National Gypsum Co., (1981) Ind. App., 426 N.E.2d 422 (Hoffman, P.J., dissenting). In the context and posture of the case before us, it is not appropriate for this Court to rule on the constitutionality of the three-year statute of limitations imposed on claims for asbestos-related disablement. In reaching that question and finding the statutory limitation "constitutional in all respects," the majority has ignored the doctrine *15 of judicial restraint in circumstances which exemplify the wisdom of that venerable principle. The majority's broad ruling is both advisory in nature and obiter dictum in effect.
The doctrine of judicial self-restraint is a quintessential concept in American jurisprudence  one rooted in the landmark decision of Marbury v. Madison, (1803) 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 2 L. Ed. 60. In short, the doctrine precludes gratuitous judicial review of constitutional questions, thereby perpetuating the delicate principles of "checks and balances" and "separation of powers" which are fundamental to our constitutional system of government. Id.; see also, Rescue Army v. Municipal Court, (1947) 331 U.S. 549, 67 S. Ct. 1409, 91 L. Ed. 1666.
The case law of this jurisdiction reflects its long-standing adherence to the doctrine. Typical of our precedent is Indiana Ed. Employment Bd. v. Benton Community Sch., (1977) 266 Ind. 491, 365 N.E.2d 752, where Justice Prentice explained the basic concept of the doctrine:
Justice DeBruler elaborated on the fundamental nature of the doctrine in Board of Commissioners of Howard Co. v. Kokomo City Plan Comm., (1975) 263 Ind. 282, 287-8, 330 N.E.2d 92, 96:
Here, Bunker's claim for compensation "can be disposed of justly on nonconstitutional grounds." Id. The majority has erred by instead addressing the constitutional question, even though we lack the full presentation and development of necessary facts which we properly deemed vital in Board of Commissioners of Howard Co. v. Kokomo Plan Comm., supra.
The nonconstitutional grounds upon which this Court should have disposed of this case are readily apparent in the record; there, it is revealed that claimant Bunker was not "disabled" at the time of the hearing and therefore was not eligible for benefits *16 under the Occupational Diseases Act. Ind. Code § 22-3-7-1 et seq. (Burns 1974). To be sure, the record reveals that Bunker suffered from asbestosis, an often fatal lung disease.
As has been recognized, however, health insurance is not among the humanitarian purposes of the Act. The fact that a Hoosier worker contracts an occupational disease does not trigger the availability of benefits. "The sine qua non is disablement." Durham Mfg. Co. et al. v. Hutchins, (1945) 115 Ind. App. 479, 483, 58 N.E.2d 444, 446; accord, Martinez v. Taylor Forge and Pipe Works, (1977) 174 Ind. App. 514, 368 N.E.2d 1176.
"Disablement," as is necessary to trigger the recovery of benefits, is defined in subsection "e" of Ind. Code § 22-3-7-9 (Burns 1982 Supp.):
The cross-examination of claimant Bunker by counsel for National Gypsum Company was directed solely to the question whether he was "disabled" within the meaning of the Act. That cross-examination, which follows in its entirety, reveals that Bunker was not disabled:
Although suffering from asbestosis, Bunker obviously was not disabled from "earning full wages" equal to those he enjoyed at National Gypsum Company. He continued to work as a technical salesman for Grain Processing Corporation, the same "better employment" which had prompted him to voluntarily leave National Gypsum's employ thirteen years earlier. Not surprisingly, the record reveals that one basis for National Gypsum Company's motion to dismiss was Bunker's lack of disablement.
The majority ignores the availability of this alternative disposition and instead focuses on the constitutionality of the three-year limitations period imposed on claims for asbestos-related disablement. Even if it could be said that Bunker's lack of disablement is not an appropriate basis on which to resolve his claim, it yet remains that the facts relevant to the constitutional question have not been "presented and fully developed in a suitable adversary atmosphere," as emphasized in Board of Commissioners *17 of Howard Co. v. Kokomo City Plan Comm., supra.
That dearth of evidence is not the fault of the parties. Rather, it is the product of our own case precedent.
In Wilson v. Review Board of Ind. Emp. Sec. Div., (1979) 270 Ind. 302, 385 N.E.2d 438, this Court recognized that the exhaustion of administrative remedies is not a prerequisite to obtaining judicial review of a constitutional question. Justice Pivarnik explained:
Our statements in Wilson are mirrored in rulings of the United States Supreme Court. Califano v. Sanders (1977) 430 U.S. 99, 109, 97 S. Ct. 980, 986, 51 L. Ed. 2d 192, 201-2 ("Constitutional questions obviously are unsuited to resolution in administrative hearing procedures ..."); Public Utilities Commission v. United States, (1958) 355 U.S. 534, 539, 78 S. Ct. 446, 450, 2 L. Ed. 2d 470, 475 ("That issue is a constitutional one that the Commission can hardly be expected to entertain").
This Court can hardly decry the "scant medical evidence" relative to the constitutional question when the parties no doubt approached the hearing with the understanding that the constitutional question was not at issue before the Industrial Board. It should be noted that our decision in Wilson was handed down only eight months prior to the hearing in the instant case. Bunker certainly was entitled to rely on Wilson and envision a court challenge to the constitutionality of the statute following the Board's ruling on his claim as necessary to render the constitutional issue ripe for review.
The record reveals that Bunker's claim was predicated solely on the argument that because the asbestos fibers remained in situ within his lungs his "exposure" to the asbestos was a continuing one which brought his claim within the statute of limitations. The evidence presented at the hearing was directed toward that contention.
Consequently, the one-half inch thick record before us is void of the development and presentation of facts which, in Board of Commissioners of Howard Co. v. Kokomo City Plan Comm., supra, this Court deemed vital to our resolution of constitutional issues. Although the majority finds it appropriate to reach the constitutional question, its analysis reflects a lack of the direction which is provided by a complete presentation of relevant facts in an adversarial posture. The majority focuses its evidentiary analysis primarily on the relationship between the incidence of asbestosis and the duration and amount of exposure. That is not at issue here. If a worker is disabled by reason of a job-related exposure to asbestos, he has an exclusive remedy in the recovery of benefits under the Occupational Diseases Act.
The subject matter is the statute of limitations which governs the exclusive remedy  assuming disablement occurs. Medical authorities relied on by our Court of Appeals established that very rarely does asbestosis manifest itself within three years of exposure; rather, the asbestos fibers remain within the lungs and the tissue response, although indolent, is both progressive and irreversible. The Court of Appeals based its conclusion that the statutory period was unconstitutional on this latency period between exposure to asbestos and its adverse physical manifestations and ultimate disablement of the worker. The Court of Appeals reasoned that the statute of limitations was invalid due to the normal latency period:
In other words, within three years after an exposure to asbestos, no manifestation of the disease, let alone disablement, would be present to justify the claim. After three years, when the manifestations and disablement normally occurs, the statute of limitations would bar the claim. Ultimately, the worker's only hope to exercise his exclusive remedy would lie in continuing the exposure to asbestos until a date within three years of his ultimate disablement. That "Catch-22" predicament for the would-be claimant not only would defy due process and the privileges and immunities guaranteed our citizens  it would be an affront to an Act which is characterized as humanitarian in purpose. Harbison-Walker Refractories Co. v. Turk, (1942) 110 Ind. App. 563, 39 N.E.2d 791.
Assuming the Court of Appeals improperly relied on the medical evidence and conclusions contained in the professional journals, it yet remains that the evidence and conclusions and the treatises and journals all exist. Other jurisdictions have relied on these studies, examined the evidence and conclusions therein, and reached decisions in accord with the Court of Appeals. See, e.g., Borel v. FibreBoard Paper Products, (5th Cir.1973) 493 F.2d 1076; Insurance Co. of North America v. Forty-Eight Insulations, Inc., (E.D.Mich. 1978) 451 F. Supp. 1230; Louisville Trust Co. v. Johns-Manville Products Corp., (Ky. 1979) 580 S.W.2d 497, overruling Columbus Mining Co. v. Walker, (Ky. 1954) 271 S.W.2d 276; Harig v. Johns-Manville Products Corp., (1978) 284 Md. App. 70, 394 A.2d 299, 1 A.L.R. 4th 105; cf. Urie v. Thompson, (1949) 337 U.S. 163, 69 S. Ct. 1018, 93 L. Ed. 1282 (latent disease silicosis). See generally, Note, The Causation Problem in Asbestos Litigation: Is There an Alternative Theory of Liability? 15 Ind.L.Rev. 679 (1982).
Because the constitutional question is an arguable one of such significant import for victims of asbestos exposure, this Court should have exercised the doctrine of judicial self-restraint instead of broadly declaring the "statute of limitations provision of the Occupational Diseases Act to be constitutional in all respects."[1]Majority Opinion, supra. Before us is "scant medical evidence," as the majority characterizes it; that evidence does not concern the constitutional question decided by the majority. Inasmuch as this Court has not considered any medical evidence concerning the latency of asbestosis, its broad ruling must be regarded as obiter dictum. Any other construction of its effect would lead the doctrine of stare decisis beyond its bounds.
For all the foregoing reasons, I dissent. Consistent with the doctrine of judicial self-restraint, as embodied in Board of Commissioners of Howard Co. v. Kokomo City Plan Comm., supra, this Court should have refused to address the constitutionality of the statute of limitations imposed on asbestos-related claims. If the question must be addressed in the context of this case, Bunker should be provided his right to be heard; consistent with Wilson v. Review Board of *19 Ind. Emp. Sec. Div., supra, he should be allowed to seek a trial de novo on the constitutionality of the statute, where a development of the facts could occur.
I dissent.
[1]  The majority perhaps feels compelled to reach the question because it was addressed by the Court of Appeals. That motivation is misplaced, however, for pursuant to Ind.R.App.P. 11(B)(3), this Court, in granting transfer, "has jurisdiction of the appeal as originally filed" in the Court of Appeals. We may sustain a judgment on any proper grounds, of course, even if the basis for our decision was not embraced below. Cain v. State, (1973) 261 Ind. 41, 300 N.E.2d 89. If it was not appropriate for our Court of Appeals to address the constitutional question, our rules would make little sense if this Court was required to compound that error.