Court Opinion

ID: 9599087
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:14:21.896893+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:46.497014
License: Public Domain

*496BAKES, Chief Justice,
dissenting:
I would heartily join in the majority opinion if we were the Industrial Commission and the trier of fact in this case. Since we are not, however, the decision of the Industrial Commission should be affirmed because there is substantial evidence to support the commission’s finding. Accordingly, I dissent.
The majority identifies the sole issue on appeal as “whether Davenport’s college attendance rendered her unavailable for work and, therefore, ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits,” and further states that the “demonstrated inquiry is whether the claimant is genuinely attached to the labor market or principally interested in obtaining an education.” These are clearly factual questions to be determined by the trier of fact, the Industrial Commission.
The majority ignores its encroachment into the province of the Industrial Commission by stating that “[u]pon appeal from the Industrial Commission .. . this Court traditionally defers to Commission findings .... ” (Emphasis added.) What the majority regards as “traditional deference” to commission findings is constitutionally mandated and reinforced by statute. See Idaho Const.Art. 5, § 9; I.C. § 72-724 and -732. In reviewing commission findings, we have long recognized that this Court has authority to reverse a commission decision only “when its findings are unsupported by any substantial and competent evidence, I.C. § 72-732(1) or are not supportable as a matter of law, Idaho Const.Art. 5, § 9.” Gordon v. West, 103 Idaho 100, 103, 645 P.2d 334, 337 (1982), citing Curtis v. Shoshone County Sheriffs Office, 102 Idaho 300, 303, 629 P.2d 696, 699 (1981). The record contains evidence that supports the commission’s findings and, exercising the restraint imposed on our review of those findings by the Idaho Constitution and statutes, I would affirm.