General Refractories Co. v. Henderson
Decision Date | 16 June 1950 |
Citation | 232 S.W.2d 846,313 Ky. 613 |
Parties | GENERAL REFRACTORIES CO., Inc. v. HENDERSON et al. |
Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
James M. Graves, Louisville, Thomas D. Theobald, Grayson, for appellant.
Davis M. Howerton, Ashland, Leonard C. Fielder, Ashland, for appellees.
CLAY, Commissioner.
This is an appeal from a judgment upholding an award of the Workmen's Compensation Board, allowing appellee disability benefits for silicosis allegedly contracted while in the employ of appellant. A question of law is determinative of the controversy.
The application was filed in 1945. Under the law then in effect a Medical Committee of physicians, provided for in KRS 342.315 and 342.316, as amended in 1946, heard the evidence and filed its report in 1947. The finding of this Medical Committee was that appellee did not have silicosis. Exceptions to this report were duly filed and no award was made by the Board prior to March 15, 1948.
On that date amendments to Sections 342.315 and 342.316 became effective. These amendments absolished the Medical Committee and made applicable the normal procedure for determining disability as in other accidental injury cases under the Act. Thereafter the Board made an independent finding that appellee had silicosis and entered the award.
Amended Section 342.316 provided in part as follows: '* * * the provisions of this section, dealing with procedure in such cases, shall apply to all silicosis cases pending before the Workmen's Compensation Board in which no final award has been made by the Workmen's Compensation Board at the time the provisions of this section become effective (March 15, 1948).'
Appellant contends: (1) the 1948 amendment should not be construed as applicable to the present case; (2) if applicable, it is unconstitutional as impairing the obligation of a contract; and (3) if applicable, it deprives appellant of a material defense which is a vested property right.
Appellant's first contention is wholly without merit. The statute could scarcely be more specific in providing that pending cases before the Board in which no final award had been made as of March 15, 1948 should be governed by the changed procedure. That is exactly this case. We cannot accept appellant's argument that the use of the word 'shall' in the quoted provision shows that it is to operate prospectively only, because under such construction the provision would have no meaning whatsoever. It plainly referred to cases then pending.
Appellant's second contention is based on the theory that the relationship between the parties is contractual; that the provisions of the Act, effective as of the time of the disability, were a part of the contract; and that the change of remedial procedure impairs its rights therein.
It must be conceded that a contractual relationship existed between appellant and appellee. Thomas et al. v. Crummies Creek Coal Co., 297 Ky. 210, 179 S.W.2d 882. It is the universally accepted rule, however, that a prescribed remedy for the enforcement of rights may be changed or modified by the legislature without impairing the obligation of existing contracts. 11 Am. Jur., Constitutional Law, Section 382; 12 Am. Jur., Constitutional Law, Section 433, Mahood v. Bessemer Properties, Inc., 154 Fla. 710, 18 So.2d 775, 153 A.L.R. 1199; U. S. v. Resch, D.C.W.D. Ky., 85 F.Supp. 389.
An excellent statement of the rule quoted from Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 4 Ed., page 350, appears in the case of Bagby v. Champ, & C., 83 Ky. 13, at page 17: 'Whatever belongs merely to the remedy, may be altered according to the will of the State, provided the alteration does not impair the obligation...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Tennessee Coal & Iron Division, U.S. Steel Corp. v. Hubbert
...Co. v. Williams, 177 Okl. 305, 58 P.2d 585; Thomas v. Crummies Creek Coal Co., 297 Ky. 210, 179 S.W.2d 882; General Refractories Co. v. Henderson, 313 Ky. 613, 232 S.W.2d 846; 12 Am.Jur., Constitutional Law, § 389, p. 18 (Notes 1 and 2); 16A C.J.S. Constitutional Law § 349, p. 19 (Note 10),......
-
Magic Coal Co. v. Fox, No. 1999-SC-0163-WC.
...that the presumption is procedural in nature. See Boggs v. Blue Diamond Coal Co., 497 F.Supp. 1105 (1980); General Refractories Co., Inc. v. Henderson, Ky., 232 S.W.2d 846 (1950). Claimant responds that in the absence of specific language to the contrary, the meaning of "presumptive weight"......
-
Daub v. Baker Concrete, No. 1999-SC-0700-WC.
...by which a legal right is enforced without impairing the obligation of existing contracts. See, General Refractories Co., Inc. v. Henderson, 313 Ky. 613, 232 S.W.2d 846 (1950). The procedural changes which were enacted in 1996 were an apparent attempt to expedite the resolution of workers' ......
-
Dean v. Gregory
...283 Ky. 563, 142 S.W.2d 132. However, a party does not have a vested right in a particular procedural remedy. General Refractories Co. v. Henderson, 313 Ky. 613, 232 S.W.2d 846. The new Rules did not cut off Daisy Mae's right to attack this judgment on the same grounds as theretofore existe......