Court Opinion

ID: 9851988
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:22:41.157103+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:20.901944
License: Public Domain

JACOBSON, Presiding Judge,
specially concurring:
I must, most reluctantly, concur in the affirmance of the Commission’s award denying the lump summing in this case. I do so solely on the basis that the evidence shows that the amount of income available to the petitioner and his wife after lump summing would be slightly less than if no lump summing had occurred. Under Rule 22(b), Rules of Procedure, Industrial Commission of Arizona, this is sufficient reason for denying the proposed lump sum award.1
If this were the sole reason advanced by the Commission to support its action in denying lump summing in this case, this concurring opinion would not have been written. However, the Commission has voiced a theory as to the purpose of the workmen’s compensation laws which is, in my opinion, shortsighted, contrary to the objectives of workmen’s compensation, and smacks of a “big brother” philosophy unbecoming a public agency. The theory advanced by the Commission is that the sole purpose of workmen’s compensation is to replace the wages lost by reason of industrial injuries, and if somehow these wages are used to support his dependents upon his death, this underlying purpose is thwarted *85and the Commission should deny the means to accomplish that purpose.
While I agree that the purpose of workmen’s compensation is to compensate for lost wages, the Commission is being impractical in looking solely to the injured workmen in defining the objectives of the law. In my opinion, the salutary benefits of the Workmen’s Compensation Act flow not only to the injured workmen but also to those who are dependent upon the injured workmen for sustenance. As was stated in Prigosin v. Industrial Commission, 113 Ariz. 87, 546 P.2d 823 (1976):
“[T]he purpose of the workmen’s compensation law is to prevent one in petitioner’s position and his dependents from becoming public charges during the period of his disability.” (emphasis added) Id. at 89, 546 P.2d at 825.
In this case, there is absolutely no evidence that would justify the Commission concluding that the lump summing in this case would result in petitioner or his wife becoming public charges. In fact, all the evidence is to the contrary. This evidence reveals a frugal couple, with a moderate income during the productive years of their lives, who have saved, acquired a moderate amount of real property, both residential and investment, and who are prepared financially to meet their retirement years. (Petitioner is 66 years old.)
The nagging fear facing them both is that if petitioner should die first, his wife may very well become a public charge, because of the loss of income only payable during petitioner’s life. The Commission’s theory of the purposes of the Workmen’s Compensation Act ignores the dependent status of petitioner’s wife and this real possibility. As previously stated, this is shortsighted and wrong.
As can be garnered from this concurring opinion, had I been a Commissioner, I would have exercised my discretion by joining with the two Commissioners who voted to approve the lump summing. However, having found evidence, because of Rule 22(b), which supports the judgment of the two Commissioners who voted to deny the lump summing, I will not substitute my judgment for theirs.
I concur.

. The validity of Rule 22(b) has not been attacked in these proceedings and therefore I assume its validity and binding effect.