Court Opinion

ID: 9791054
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:04:23.602194+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:33.633187
License: Public Domain

*718CARTER, J.
I am constrained to concur in the judgment of affirmance because; and only because, I am convinced there is some evidence in the record which tends to support the finding of the commission that petitioner was only partially dependent on deceased at the time of the latter’s injury and death. While there is, in my opinion, ample evidence to support a finding of total dependency, there is also some evidence of partial dependency. In this state of the record we are required to sustain the finding of partial dependency and affirm the award.
It is not the function of an appellate court to weigh the evidence or to pass upon the reasonableness of conflicting inferences which may be drawn from the evidence even if that evidence is undisputed. Under our system of jurisprudence the weighing of the evidence and the determination of the effect of the inferences to be drawn therefrom is solely for the trier of fact (Estate of Bristol, 23 Cal.2d 221 [143 P.2d 689]; Eagles v. Samuels, 329 U.S. 304 [67 S.Ct. 313, 91 L.Ed. 308]; Tennant v. Peoria & P. U. R. Co., 321 U.S. 29 [64 S.Ct. 409, 88 L.Ed. 520]; Ellis v. Union Pacific Ry. Co., 329 U.S. 649 [67 S.Ct. 598, 91 L.Ed. 571]; Labor Bd. v. Hearst Publications, 322 U.S. 111 [64 S.Ct. 851, 88 L.Ed. 1170]; Commissioner v. Scottish Amer. Co., 323 U.S. 119 [65 S.Ct. 169, 89 L.Ed. 113]; Unemployment Compensation Commission v. Aragon, 329 U.S. 143 [67 S.Ct. 245, 91 L.Ed. 136]; Cardillo v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 330 U.S. 469 [67 S.Ct. 801, 91 L.Ed. 1028]). The same rule is applicable to the review of proceedings before the Industrial Accident Commission.
The chief difference in the function of an appellate court in reviewing awards of the Industrial Accident Commission and judgments and orders of a trial court is, that the Labor Code expressly provides that: “The provisions of Division IV and Division V of this code shall be liberally construed by the courts with the purpose of extending their benefits for the protection of persons injured in the course of their employment.’’ (Lab. Code, § 3202.) [Emphasis added.] This provision is, of course, applicable to the review by this court and the District Courts of Appeal of awards made by the Industrial Accident Commission. There is no such provision of law applicable to a review of judgments and orders of trial courts. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3202 of the Labor Code, some courts have applied the more conservative rules of the common law to the review of awards of *719the Industrial Accident Commission and annulled many of such awards in favor of injured employees or their dependents in cases where such awards would have been affirmed had the rule of liberal construction provided for in section 3202 of the Labor Code been applied. (See, dissenting opinions in Aetna Cas. & Surety Co. v. Industrial Acc. Com., 30 Cal.2d 388, 397 [182 P.2d 159, 163], and California Shipbuilding Corp. v. Industrial Acc. Com., 31 Cal.2d 270, 275 [188 P.2d 32].)
This case was first decided by the District Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division One, and the decision rendered therein annulled the award of partial dependency and remanded the cause to the respondent commission with directions to find that petitioner was totally dependent upon deceased and to enter an award on that basis. (81 A.C.A. 181 [183 P.2d 691].) The view expressed by the District Court of Appeal in its opinion was to the effect that there was no conflict in the evidence relative to the total dependency of petitioner, and that the Industrial Accident Commission therefore exceeded its jurisdiction in rendering an award based upon partial dependency only. This opinion is well reasoned, and when read in the light of the majority opinion of this court in this case, demonstrates the closeness of the factual situation upon which the finding of the commission is based. The record clearly presents a factual picture upon which reasonable minds might differ as to whether petitioner was totally or only partially dependent upon deceased at the time of his injury which resulted in his death. In view of the conclusion reached by the majority of this court that there is a conflict in the evidence on this issue, and the commission having found in favor of partial dependency, under the rules above stated, the award must be affirmed.