Lemke v. Rabenberg's, Inc.

• Decision Date: 25 September 1975
• Docket Number: No. 11330,11330
• Citation: 233 N.W.2d 336,89 S.D. 386
• Parties: Alfred LEMKE, Deceased Employee, by Agnes Lemke, Claimant and Appellant, v. RABENBERG'S, INC., Employer and Respondent, and Agricultural Insurance Company, Insurer and Respondent.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

Page 336

233 N.W.2d 336

89 S.D. 386

Alfred LEMKE, Deceased Employee, by Agnes Lemke, Claimant and Appellant, v. RABENBERG'S, INC., Employer and Respondent and Agricultural Insurance Company, Insurer and Respondent.

No. 11330.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Sept. 25, 1975.

Murray Ogborn of Siegel, Barnett, Schutz, O'Keefe & Ogborn, Aberdeen, for claimant and appellant.

Chester A. Groseclose, Jr., of Richardson, Groseclose, Kornmann & Wyly, Aberdeen, for employer-insurer and respondents.

COLER, Justice.

The widow of Alfred Lemke seeks workmen's compensation benefits for herself and their minor children. The Commissioner of Labor and Management Relations denied the claim and, on appeal, the circuit court affirmed the action of the Commissioner. The principal issues before this court are the determination of whether, and to what extent, the state's administrative procedure act applies to proceedings in workmen's compensation proceedings and, if SDCL 1--26 applies to such proceedings, whether there has been compliance. The issues arise out of claimant's argument, stated among her objections to the proposed findings, that the findings of the Commissioner are insufficient, bringing into focus the requirements of SDCL 1--26--25; and, on the other hand, respondents' insistence that the scope of review of both the circuit court and this court is governed by prior decisions of this court without recognizing the language of SDCL 1--26--36 as applicable.

We reverse.

The claim herein was filed with the Commissioner on December 21, 1971 and the hearing was held on April 14, 1972. The evidence before the Commissioner relative to the preexisting condition of the health of the decedent and accidental injury consisted of the testimony of the claimant widow and other relatives, several co-workers of the decedent, and the coroner. Two witnesses, also co-workers, were called by the employer-insurer. All other evidence was in the form of depositions, two taken of witnesses who testified at the hearing, those of Drs. Kumar and Torkildson, for claimant, taken prior to the hearing on April 7, 1972 and that of Dr. William R. Taylor, for employer-insurer, taken subsequent to the hearing on April 18, 1972. In addition, there was a statement of witness Geigel taken shortly after the incident used for impeachment purposes but which was apparently not given credence by the Commissioner.

On June 28, 1972, the Commissioner, in the form of a letter which he entitled 'Memorandum of Decision' and, in keeping with his statement at the close of the hearing that 'The party on the winning side, for lack of better words, will then prepare findings of fact and conclusions of law and submit it * * *', directed counsel as follows:

'The attorney for the employer-insurer may therefore prepare Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and a Denial of Award consistent with the terms of this Memorandum. Please submit four copies to this office and one to counsel for claimant. Counsel for claimant will be given seven days to object to the proposed Findings and if no objections are received, the Denial of Award will be signed on the seventh day and a Notice of Decision will be served upon the parties of record.'

The attorney for the 'winning party' obviously prepared the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and thereafter on July 19, 1972 claimant entered Objections to Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

Although no rule had been adopted to permit parties to submit proposed findings which necessitates 'a ruling on each proposed finding' the Commissioner did make some cryptic marginal comments on several of the claimant's objections but accepted, without ruling on each, SDCL 1--26--25, all of the proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law prepared by counsel for employer-insurer on the 19th of July, 1972. ¹ The objections of claimant raises the issue of whether the findings of fact are accompanied by a concise and explicit statement of the underlying facts supporting the finding. ²

It is uncontroverted that Alfred Lemke died on December 26, 1969, at age 43, while in the employ of Rabenberg's, Inc., of Selby, South Dakota, an implement dealer who also had a business in McLaughlin. Although not reflected in the findings adopted and although we feel no constraint to bolster the findings by reference to his memorandum of decision, not incorporated by reference, as we might do with findings of the circuit court, Mulder v. Tague, 1971, 85 S.D. 544, 186 N.W.2d 884, we consider the statement therein by the Commissioner binding to the effect that the cause of Alfred Lemke's death was a coronary occlusion as stated in the death record prepared by the coroner who was not a physician.

Although there was some material conflict in the evidence it appears that on Christmas day, the day preceding his death, as testified by his widow and relatives who had been at the family dinner, the decedent showed no signs of illness. On December 26th, as was customary, he had joined his family in farm chores at his rural home near Selby, had breakfast at home, arrived at work at the usual time and returned home for lunch. After lunch the decedent was to deliver a load of farm machinery, consisting of a tractor and a loader, on a 2-ton truck to the Peterson Brothers ranch 10 to 15 miles from Little Eagle, a distance of approximately 25 miles from McLaughlin. Concededly Alfred Lemke was not feeling well when he stopped for directions at the McLaughlin store. For that reason and because he was not familiar with the location of the Peterson place, Gilbert Geigel, an employee of the McLaughlin store, accompanied him on the remainder of the trip to effect delivery of the machinery.

The temperature that day was between 13 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit, the wind was blowing, causing drifting snow, and the roads were icy. A portion of the distance to the ranch was on an icy hard-surfaced road. Lemke drove the truck on this stretch. The remaining distance was graveled and Geigel drove. After arriving at the ranch and unloading the machinery, part of it was reloaded when it was found that delivery had been made to the wrong Peterson ranch, only to be again unloaded to facilitate getting the truck back up the hill as it could not do so on its own. Pat Peterson, one of the ranch owners, hooked his tractor to the truck which Mr. Lemke was driving to assist in getting it up a steep, winding, mile-long hill which was apparently the only access to the Peterson ranch. A four-wheel-drive unit was later attached to the tractor to provide additional pulling power after the truck had been stuck on several occasions and the tractor alone could not extricate it. Shoveling was apparently done by both Lemke and Geigel, although there is conflict in the testimony as to who did the major portion of the shoveling, at the several times they were stalled on the hill. Shoveling occurred and hooking and rehooking of the chains and cables between the vehicles was done each time progress was made, which necessitated the drivers of the various vehicles getting into and out of their vehicles a number of times. At one point, the truck was in danger of slipping off the road and over a 15-foot embankment. After finally negotiating the hill, which consumed nearly 3 hours (though 1 hour in Mr. Geigel's estimation, he also estimated the hill was only 800 feet long), they proceeded to McLaughlin.

On the return home Mr. Lemke was quiet and after he had driven for some time after reaching the top of the hill he requested Geigel to take over the driving. Upon reaching McLaughlin at 7:00 p.m. Lemke went to the home of Arnold Schott, Rabenberg's shop mechanic at McLaughlin, where he stated he did not feel well enough to drive Schott's pickup back to Selby and asked for some aspirin. He appeared pale and was apparently unable to stand upright without support. He requested Schott to drive him back to Selby some 51 miles distant. When they had traveled approximately 10 miles, Lemke suddenly collapsed on the floorboard of the vehicle gasping for air, foaming at the mouth and clutching at the left side of his chest. Mr. Schott returned to McLaughlin and took Lemke to the hospital where the doctor pronounced him dead.

This court has not heretofore had occasion to construe the provisions of SDCL 1--26--25 as it relates to sufficiency of findings of an agency as defined by SDCL 1--26--1(1). Some previous decisions of this court, including Edge v. City of Pierre, 1931, 59 S.D. 193, 239 N.W. 191 and McKinnon v. State Banking Commission, 1960, 78 S.D. 407, 103 N.W.2d 179, though illustrative, were not predicated on a statute such as SDCL 1--26--25. The provision stating, in part, the requirements that 'Findings of fact, if set forth in statutory language, shall be accompanied by a concise and explicit statement of the underlying facts supporting the findings. If, in accordance with agency rules, a party submitted proposed findings of fact, the decision shall include a ruling upon each proposed finding', was adopted from the Model State Administrative Procedure Act § 12 (1961), promulgated by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The note prepared by that conference clearly reflects the purpose of the statute and the legislative intent:

'An attempt is here made to require agency findings to go beyond a mere statement of a general conclusion in the statutory language (e.g., that 'public interest, convenience and necessity' will be served) or in language of similar generality. The intent is to require the degree of explicitness imposed by such decisions as Saginaw Broadcasting Company v. Federal Communications Commission (Ct.App.D.C., 1938), 96 F.2d 554, where the court required a statement of the 'basic or underlying facts.' Several states have concerned themselves with this problem. Missouri has adopted the requirement that findings of fact and conclusions of law shall be 'separated.' ...