Opinion ID: 1255163
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Whether the Commissioner Correctly Apportioned the Death Benefits.

Text: To determine if the commissioner properly apportioned the death benefits, we must construe Iowa Code sections 85.31, 85.42, 85.43, and 85.44. We apply the same scope of review and rules of statutory construction we applied to the interplay between sections 85.31(5) and 85.51 in division IV of this opinion. The first determination made by the commissioner was that Yolanda and her five children were actual dependents who were wholly dependent upon Raul's income under sections 85.31(1)( d ) and 85.44. The commissioner then adopted the apportionment of benefits made by the deputy commissioner. The first question we must decide is whether the commissioner's decision applied the proper analysis to determine who is eligible to receive death benefits under the workers' compensation statutes. Iowa Code sections 85.31 and 85.42 are relevant as to who is eligible to receive death benefits as a dependent of Raul. Section 85.31(1) provides in relevant part: When death results from the injury, the employer shall pay the dependents who were wholly dependent on the earnings of the employee for support at the time of the injury, during their lifetime, compensation upon the basis of eighty percent per week of the employee's average weekly spendable earnings, commencing from the date of death as follows: a. To the surviving spouse for life or until remarriage, provided that upon remarriage two years' benefits shall be paid to the surviving spouse in a lump sum, if there are no children entitled to benefits. b. To any child of the deceased until the child shall reach the age of eighteen, provided that a child beyond eighteen years of age shall receive benefits to the age of twenty-five if actually dependent, and the fact that a child is under twenty-five years of age and is enrolled as a full-time student in any accredited educational institution shall be a prima facie showing of actual dependency. . . . . d. To all other dependents as defined in section 85.44 for the duration of the incapacity from earning. Iowa Code § 85.31(1). Iowa Code section 85.42 provides in relevant part: The following shall be conclusively presumed to be wholly dependent upon the deceased employee: 1. The surviving spouse, with the following exceptions: a. When it is shown that at the time of the injury the surviving spouse had willfully deserted deceased without fault of the deceased, then such survivor shall not be considered as dependent in any degree. b. When the surviving spouse was not married to the deceased at the time of the injury. 2. A child or children under eighteen years of age, and over said age if physically or mentally incapacitated from earning, whether actually dependent for support or not upon the parent at the time of the parent's death. Id. § 85.42. We agree with the commissioner that Yolanda is eligible to receive benefits under section 85.31(1), because she was wholly dependent under section 85.31(1) and a dependent under section 85.31(1)( d ). We disagree with the commissioner's decision finding that Raul's five children with Yolanda were eligible to receive benefits for the same reasons that Yolanda was eligible to receive benefits. Raul's five children with Yolanda are eligible to receive benefits under sections 85.31(1)( b ) and 85.42(2). Section 85.31(1)( b ) makes children who are wholly dependent on the earnings of the deceased employee eligible to receive benefits. Id. § 85.31(1)( b ). Under section 85.42(2), Raul's five children with Yolanda are conclusively presumed to be wholly dependent upon Raul when they are under the age of eighteen. Id. § 85.42(2). Accordingly, Yolanda's five children are eligible to receive benefits under section 85.31(1)( b ), not section 85.31(1)( d ). Raul's present spouse, Jody, and his child with Jody, Samuel, are eligible to receive benefits under section 85.31(1). Jody, as the surviving spouse, is eligible to receive benefits under section 85.31(1)( a ), because under section 85.42(1) she is conclusively presumed to be wholly dependent. Id. §§ 85.31(1)( a ), .42(1). Samuel, as Raul's child, is eligible to receive benefits under section 85.31(1)( b ), because section 85.42(2) conclusively presumes him to be wholly dependent. Id. §§ 85.31(1)( b ),.42(2). Consequently, Jody Perez Rojas, Samuel David Perez, Raul Perez Carreras, Juan Carlos Perez Carreras, Vinicio Perez Carreras, Yolanda Perez Carreras, Mercedes Perez Carreras, and Yolanda Carreras Narvaez are all eligible to receive a portion of the death benefits under section 85.31(1). The aggregate amount of benefits payable to the eligible beneficiaries is eighty percent per week of the employee's average weekly spendable earnings, subject to a maximum benefit limitation contained in the statute. Id. § 85.31(1). To determine the amount of compensation, if any, each eligible person may receive, it is necessary to review the apportionment statutes concerning the distribution of benefits to the eligible beneficiaries. Thus, the second question we must decide is how to apportion the compensation payable between the eligible beneficiaries. The commissioner apportioned fifty percent of the benefits to Jody, twenty percent to Samuel, and thirty percent to Yolanda and her five children. In making this apportionment, the commissioner found that during his lifetime, Raul sent approximately fifteen percent of his gross pay to Yolanda for the support of her and the five children. The commissioner's decision noted Iowa Code section 85.31(5) required the employer to pay fifty percent of any benefits payable to nonresident alien dependents to the Second Injury Fund. Therefore, because the commissioner concluded Yolanda and her five children's net benefit should be fifteen percent, the commissioner doubled the amount of their gross benefits to thirty percent, so that after the fifty percent reduction required by section 85.31(5) Yolanda and her five children would still receive a net benefit of fifteen percent. On appeal, Yolanda and her five children claim the benefits should be divided equally among all dependents. Jody and Samuel claim the commissioner's decision correctly determined that fifteen percent of the benefits should have been apportioned to Yolanda and her five children, but argue that the commissioner should not have considered the Second Injury Fund reduction, thereby doubling Yolanda and her five children's allocation of benefits to thirty percent. We find that the commissioner erred in two respects when he apportioned the compensation among the eligible beneficiaries. First, the worker's compensation statutes do not allow Yolanda, the parent of Raul's Mexican children, to receive any compensation in an apportionment. Second, the commissioner should not have considered the amount of the benefits payable to the Second Injury Fund when it apportioned the compensation to the nonresident aliens. An examination of the applicable statutes supports our conclusions. The statutes bearing on the apportionment of benefits are found in sections 85.43 and 85.44. Section 85.43 contains the following language: If the deceased employee leaves a surviving spouse qualified under the provisions of section 85.42, the full compensation shall be paid to the surviving spouse, as provided in section 85.31; provided that where a deceased employee leave a surviving spouse and a dependent child or children the workers' compensation commissioner may make an order of record for an equitable apportionment of the compensation payments. Id. § 85.43 (emphasis added). Section 85.44 reads: In all other cases, a dependent shall be one actually dependent or mentally or physically incapacitated from earning. Such status shall be determined in accordance with the facts as of the date of the injury. In such cases if there is more than one person, the compensation benefit shall be equally divided among them. If there is no one wholly dependent and more than one person partially dependent, the compensation benefit shall be divided among them in the proportion each dependency bears to their aggregate dependency. Id. § 85.44 (emphasis added). Section 85.43 controls the apportionment of the compensation payable because Raul left a surviving spouse, Jody. Section 85.43 requires that the full compensation shall be paid to the surviving spouse unless the commissioner equitably apportions the compensation between the surviving spouse and any dependent children. Id. § 85.43. Section 85.43 does not provide for any apportionment to an actual dependent, such as Yolanda. Section 85.44 provides for the payment and apportionment of compensation to an actual dependent. However, section 85.44 has no application to the facts of this case. Section 85.44 begins with the phrase [i]n all other cases. Id. § 85.44. This phrase means that section 85.44 is only applicable when section 85.43 does not apply. Raul left a surviving spouse. Therefore, even though Yolanda is eligible as an actual dependent to receive compensation, she is not entitled to receive any of the compensation awarded for Raul's death because section 85.43 controls who is to receive the compensation, not section 85.44. On first blush, this result appears to be harsh and inconsistent with section 85.31(1). On closer examination, this result is consistent with the scheme envisioned by the legislature when determining who shall receive a worker's death benefits. Section 85.31(1) determines who is eligible to receive a worker's death benefits. Once the class of persons eligible to receive those benefits is determined, sections 85.43 and 85.44 determine who is entitled to receive those benefits. The default provision is the surviving spouse receives the full compensation. Id. § 85.43. The default provision assumes if the deceased worker left a surviving spouse, any eligible children would be living in the same household, and the surviving spouse would use the full compensation to support the family unit. If, for example, the deceased worker's children lived in separate households, the legislature gave the commissioner the authority to apportion the compensation equitably between the surviving spouse and the children. This way all of the deceased worker's children would receive a fair share of the compensation. The legislature also made the decision that actual dependents should not receive any compensation if the worker left a surviving spouse. Id. § 85.44. Actual dependents could include individuals like Yolanda, parents, relatives, and even paramours. By this statutory scheme, it is apparent the legislature made a conscious choice that actual dependents should not receive any compensation if the deceased worker left a surviving spouse. It is not our job to second-guess the legislature in its choices. Accordingly, even though Yolanda is eligible to receive death benefits under section 85.31(1), she is not entitled to receive any compensation under section 85.43. Therefore, this case should be remanded to the commissioner to apportion the benefits equitably between Jody Perez Rojas, as Raul's spouse, and Raul's children, Samuel David Perez, Raul Perez Carreras, Juan Carlos Perez Carreras, Vinicio Perez Carreras, Yolanda Perez Carreras, and Mercedes Perez Carreras. Yolanda, the mother of Raul's Mexican born children, is not entitled to receive any compensation by reason of Raul's death. Section 85.43 requires an equitable apportionment. Id. § 85.43. Equitable is an undefined term. When the legislature fails to give a definition to a term, we consider the context in which the legislature used the term and give the term its ordinary and common meaning. City of Des Moines v. Employment Appeal Bd., 722 N.W.2d 183, 196 (Iowa 2006). The dictionary defines equitable as fair to all concerned. Webster's Third New International Dictionary 769 (unabr. ed. 2002). Black's law dictionary defines equitable as consistent with principles of justice and right. Black's Law Dictionary 578 (8th ed. 2004). Like most other states, Iowa is known as an equitable distribution jurisdiction for purposes of dividing property in a dissolution of marriage proceeding. In re Marriage of McNerney, 417 N.W.2d 205, 207 (Iowa 1987). An equitable distribution is not necessarily an equal distribution. In re Marriage of Anliker, 694 N.W.2d 535, 542 (Iowa 2005). An equitable distribution depends upon the circumstances of each case. In re Marriage of Schriner, 695 N.W.2d 493, 496 (Iowa 2005). Two sister states appear to apportion death benefits equitably. In Tennessee, a statute allowed the court to allocate death benefits between a spouse and children appropriately. Farmer v. Farmer, 562 S.W.2d 205, 207 (Tenn.1978). In Colorado, a statute allowed the commission to apportion the benefits in a manner it deemed just and equitable. Spoo v. Spoo, 145 Colo. 268, 358 P.2d 870, 871 (1961). In both cases, the courts found equitable did not mean equal. Spoo, 358 P.2d at 871-72; Farmer, 562 S.W.2d at 206-07. The equitable division of the benefits required considering all the facts and needs of the dependents. Spoo, 358 P.2d at 871-72. We agree that the ordinary meaning of the term equitable does not mean an equal distribution of benefits. In equitably apportioning death benefits between entitled dependents, the commissioner must consider the facts and circumstances of the dependents. This includes consideration of the needs of the dependents. The commissioner's decision appears to allocate the benefits equitably rather than equally. Our inquiry into the allocation is not finished because Jody claims the commissioner's decision should not have considered the fifty percent reduction in benefits required under section 85.31(5) when it allocated the benefits. In enacting our workers' compensation statutes, the legislature made a conscious choice that certain nonresident aliens should receive reduced benefits. Iowa Code § 85.31(5). One noted treatise attributes this reduction on the problems of proof and administration of these claims, rather than on the desire of a state to discriminate against nonresident aliens. Larson's Workers' Compensation § 97.07, at 97-26. The legislature defined how the commissioner allocates benefits in section 85.43. Iowa Code § 85.43. The amount of benefits payable, including the reduction in benefits for nonresident aliens, is found in section 85.31. Id. § 85.31. By not incorporating the allocation of benefits with the amount of benefits payable, the legislature intended to keep the determination of the allocation of benefits separate from the determination of the amount of benefits payable to a dependent. The commissioner's decision circumvented this intent by first determining an equitable allocation of benefits and then doubling the allocation of benefits to Yolanda and her five children to take into consideration section 85.31(5)'s reduction of benefits to nonresident alien dependents. If we were to allow the commissioner to consider this reduction when making an equitable allocation, we would be giving the commissioner the power to circumvent the clear intent of the legislature, that the allocation of benefits is a separate and distinct issue from the amount of benefits payable to a dependent and the benefits payable to nonresident alien dependents are to be reduced by fifty percent. Therefore, the commissioner erred by considering the reduction contained in section 85.31(5) for nonresident aliens when it equitably allocated the death benefits awarded in this case.