Title: Goodyear Aircraft Corp. v. Industrial Commission
Citation: 358 P.2d 715, 89 Ariz. 114
Docket Number: 6943
State: Arizona
Issuer: Arizona Supreme Court
Date: January 18, 1961

89 Ariz. 114 (1961) 358 P.2d 715 GOODYEAR AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of Arizona and Alfred E. Segobiano, Respondents. No. 6943. Supreme Court of Arizona. January 18, 1961. *115 John E. Madden, Charles M. Brewer and John Geoffrey Will, Phoenix, for petitioner. W.L. Farringer and Lawrence C. Cantor, Phoenix, for respondent, Alfred E. Segobiano. Donald J. Morgan, Phoenix, for respondent, Industrial Commission of Arizona. BERNSTEIN, Vice Chief Justice. The basic question presented in this case is whether an employee, whose employer was insured against liability for the payment of accident benefits and compensation under Arizona's Workmen's Compensation Law, A.R.S. § 23-901 et seq., is entitled to an award for scheduled permanent partial disability for an injury causing a partial loss of hearing when there was evidence tending to show a previous hearing loss not occasioned by an injury. *116 The respondent-claimant Segobiano, while in the employ of the petitioner Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, suffered a loss of hearing by an injury to his right ear occasioned by an industrial accident-noise arising out of and in the course of his employment. On December 1, 1958, The Industrial Commission held the injury to be compensable, and on the basis of the medical experts' testimony permanent partial disability was awarded for a ten percent loss of hearing. On the basis of this finding, an award was granted for fifty-five percent of Segobiano's average monthly wage for six months. Following petitioner's timely request for rehearing, hearings were held. On July 15, 1959, The Industrial Commission entered an award finding that Segobiano's disability was a ten percent bilateral loss of hearing and affirmed its earlier award. Writ of certiorari issued. The evidence adduced at the hearings disclosed that on March 6, 1958, Segobiano, while bucking rivets on a wing spar, suffered an injury to his right ear when a rivet was shot that created a "terrific noise." He immediately felt pressure in his right ear. The Industrial Commission's Medical Advisory Board reported: Dr. Robert C. Foreman, a member of the Medical Advisory Board and the plant physician of the petitioner, testified to the history of the audiometric tests performed under his direction upon Segobiano before the accident in question. The substance of his testimony was that Segobiano had a history of hearing loss bilateral. On the basis of all the evidence The Industrial Commission granted a scheduled permanent partial disability under section 23-1044(B), A.R.S., which provides: Petitioner contends that in utilizing the above subdivision The Industrial Commission has either ignored or disregarded the evidence relating to the prior hearing disability, or has ignored or disregarded the subdivision of section 23-1044, A.R.S., dealing with prior disabilities. He further argues that if the prior loss of hearing disability were taken into consideration, the award should have been calculated as a non-scheduled injury under section 23-1044(E), A.R.S., as follows: In McKinney v. Industrial Commission, 78 Ariz. 264, 278 P.2d 887, 888, we held that the non-scheduled injury section applied to the facts in that case. There a forty-six year old employee suffered a sprained left ankle by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment which The Industrial Commission found the permanent disability to be thirty-five percent functional loss of the use of the left leg and awarded compensation for a scheduled injury. The evidence also showed that when this employee was eight years of age he lost his right leg in an non-industrial accident. We said in that case: As gleaned from the McKinney case, supra, we find that "previous disability" as referred to in section 23-1044(E), A.R.S., refers to previous disability which affected earning capacity at the time of the subsequent injury. The entire consideration in the non-scheduled category is a loss of earning capacity consideration. We have held that: There was no doubt in the McKinney Case that the prior loss of a leg had affected the employee's earning power. In the case at bar was there such a prior loss of earning power so as to make section 23-1044(E), A.R.S., applicable? The evidence warranted the commission's finding that there was no loss of earning capacity disability existing at the time of injury. Segobiano, himself, testified as follows: Segobiano was performing his daily work with no disabling effects from his pre-existing loss of hearing up to the time of accident, and even after the accident he was still able to continue his regular work. He even admitted he was not aware of any pre-existing condition. This being so, we believe that The Industrial Commission was correct in awarding compensation under the scheduled section. There being no "previous disability" which affected his earning capacity at the time of the subsequent injury section 23-1044(E), A.R.S., is inapplicable. The petitioner claims that The Industrial Commission erred in awarding compensation for a bilateral loss of hearing when the evidence showed that the injury occurred only to the right ear. The competent medical testimony was that there was a bilateral hearing loss and that such loss was attributable to the accident. We find that the commission did not err in this respect since it based its findings on the conclusions and recommendations of the Medical Advisory Board. Award affirmed. STRUCKMEYER, C.J., and UDALL, JENNINGS, and LOCKWOOD, JJ., concurring.