Opinion ID: 2609756
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Role of the Referee

Text: A moment is taken to first reiterate the concerns that I have with the current procedures of the Industrial Commission, which were articulated in Koester v. State, 124 Idaho 205, 858 P.2d 744 (1993). As in Koester, a lone referee heard this case, sifted through the documents, and arrived at factual findings, legal conclusions, and a recommended order. The Commission, in adopting the work product of the referee, apparently did conduct a de novo review; however, the questionable legal and factual analysis accepted by the Commission on the referee's recommendation is suggestive that the Commission's role was indeed less than fully involved. As stated in Koester, this practice cannot be otherwise than of profound concern to the practitioners who represent injured workers. Far better would it be that the commissioners provide the parties with the opportunity of presenting further argument by counsel for the involved litigants. Only in that manner can it then be truthfully said that the Commission's ultimate decision is the product of their becoming fully informed. Put more directly, the decision of a referee should not automatically become the decision of the Commission. The referees over the years generally have been very capable and experienced, but nevertheless, the final administrative decision is to be made by the Commission, subject only to review by the Idaho Supreme Court. Recollection informs me that on occasion in the past only one of the commissioners has presided where the Commission itself has so ordered, but in that manner the other commissioners are fully informed. If that is not the case, it is certain within probability that they can and do have tape recording capability, which would allow absent commissioners to reviewing hearings which they may have been unable to attend. Given the deferential standard which this Court must employ in reviewing the actions of the Commission and which are mandated by the Idaho Constitution art. V, § 9 and Idaho Code § 72-732, the decisions made by the referees and the Commission are of critical importance to injured employees and their families. Such responsibility, in my mind, would rest far more comfortably on several sets of shoulders than on just one referee.