Maggard v. International Harvester Co.

• Decision Date: 01 February 1974
• Citation: 508 S.W.2d 777
• Parties: Otis MAGGARD, Appellant, v. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY et al., Appellees (two cases). James R. YOCOM, Appellant, v. Otis MAGGARD et al., Appellees.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

Page 777

508 S.W.2d 777

Otis MAGGARD, Appellant, v. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY et al., Appellees (two cases).

James R. YOCOM, Appellant, v. Otis MAGGARD et al., Appellees.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Feb. 1, 1974.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing April 12, 1974.

Eugene Goss, Goss & Forester, Harlan, for Otis Maggard.

William A. Rice, Rice & Huff, Harlan, for International Harvester Co.

Robert D. Hawkins, Chief Counsel, Dept. of Labor, Frankfort, Gemma M. Harding, Dept. of Labor, Louisville, Arthur R. Samuel, John Oakley, Dept. of Labor, Frankfort, for James R. Yocom and Special Fund.

CATINNA, Commissioner.

Otis Maggard was last exposed to the hazards of pneumoconiosis on January 3 1973, which date is also the date of his last employment. He had worked in the mines for a period of more than forty years prior to his disability.

On April 2, 1973, the Workmen's Compensation Board found that Maggard was permanently and totally disabled by the occupational disease of pneumoconiosis. He was awarded compensation in the sum of $60 per week for a period of 425 weeks in the aggregate. Liability for the entire award was assessed against the Special Fund .

Maggard also filed a claim for benefits under the National Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended, Title 30 U.S.C.A., Subchapter IV, Black Lung Benefits, Section 901, et seq. Although this federal claim was pending during the proceedings had before the Workmen's Compensation Board, no final action was taken prior to the time when the award of the board became final.

Maggard and the Special Fund, in separate appeals to the Harlan Circuit Court, contended that the board erroneously construed and applied the law as set out in the 1972 amendments to the Workmen's Compensation Act, particularly Section 37 of Senate Bill 184 (1972 Acts, Chapter 78, Section 37) relating to the effective date of certain provisions of the act as amended. The circuit court, in affirming the board, dismissed each appeal and from this judgment Maggard and the Special Fund appeal to this court.

Section 37 of Senate Bill 184 provides:

'Effective date. This Act shall be effective on January 1, 1973; and effective for all claims filed on and after January 1, 1973; provided, however, that in the event federal law specifies that claims covered by provisions of this Act shall be filed with a federal agency such claims shall continue to be filed as required by the federal law until repeal or expiration of the federal law requiring same; then, in that event, the increase in benefits provided herein shall not apply to those claims where benefits are awarded under the federal law. The benefits under the present law KRS Chapter 342 shall apply to those claims.'

This section lends itself to various constructions, thus forming the basis of the controversy in this proceeding. The Workmen's Compensation Board has construed this section as standing for the proposition that for so long as there is a Federal Black Lung Program the effective date of the amendments in Senate Bill 184, insofar as they apply to increased black-lung benefits, are deferred and all proceedings under the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act are governed by the law in effect prior to the amendment. Consequently, the board has limited its awards to a maximum of $60 per week for a period of 425 weeks and assessed all payments against the Special Fund.

Upon this appeal Maggard poses the three following questions:

'QUESTION NO. 1

Whether the 1972 Amendments to the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act, incorporated in Senate Bill 184 of the Acts of the General Assembly, require payment of benefits in the sum of $81.00 per week for life to a workman successfully claiming total and permanent disability from occupational pneumoconiosis, when such workman's last exposure to the hazards of the occupational disease occurred on January 3, 1973.

'QUESTION NO. 2

Whether the 1972 Amendments to the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act incorporated in Senate Bill 184 of the Acts of the General Assembly require payment of benefits in the sum of $63.00 per week for 425 weeks to a workman successfully claiming total and permanent disability from occupational pneumoconiosis, where such workman's last exposure to the hazards of the occupational disease occurred on January 3 1973, subject to increase to $81 .00 per week for life should such workman's claim for Federal Black Lung Benefits be ultimately denied.

'QUESTION NO. 3

Whether the 1972 Amendments to the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act, incorporated in Senate Bill 184 of the Acts of the General Assembly, require payment of benefits in the sum of $63.00 per week for 425 weeks to a workman successfully claiming total and permanent disability from occupational pneumoconiosis, where such workman's last exposure to the hazards of the occupational disease occurred on January 3, 1973.'

In a separate proceeding Maggard seeks to recover the difference between the $60 per week awarded him by the board and the sum of $63 per week to which he claims to be entitled.

The Special Fund upon its appeal questions the act as follows:

'1. Whether the 1972 Amendments to the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act, Incorporated Chapter 78, Section 37, of Senate Bill 184 of the Acts of the General Assembly delay the payments of increased benefits until January 1, 1974.

'2. Whether the 1972 Amendments to the Workmen's Compensation Act, Incorporated Chapter 78, Section 18(13)(a), in Senate Bill 184 of the Acts of the General Assembly became effective January 1, 1973 .'

It is admitted by all of the parties that Section 37 is very ineptly drawn and fails to clearly express the desires or intentions of the legislature insofar as an increase in black-lung benefits is concerned. The separate appeals of Maggard and the Special Fund and illustrative of a conflict that defies resolution from a mere reading of the act. Because of this conflict, it becomes necessary for us to examine Senate Bill 184 amending the Workmen's Compensation Act and prevailing circumstances and seek to ascertain therefrom the intention and purpose of the legislature in so enacting this amendment and, in particular, Section 37.

In Princess Manufacturing Company v. Jarrell, Ky., 465 S.W.2d 45 (1971), we said:

'* * * It is not the prerogative of the court to attempt to establish policy or determine the wisdom of the legislation. When we encounter a situation where the legislative intent is not discernible from the language of the act, we may look beyond the language of the act to legislative history and purpose of the legislation and other pertinent factors to determine legislative intent.'

See also May v. Clay-Centry-Graves Tobacco Warehouse Company, 284 Ky. 502, 145 S.W.2d 84 (1940).

A determination of the purposes of Senate Bill 184 requires that it be examined in light of certain provisions of the Federal Black Lung Act.

In the adoption of Subchapter IV, Black Lung Benefits, of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, the congressional findings and declaration of purpose were set out as follows:

'Congress finds and declares that there are a significant number of coal miners living today who are totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis arising out of employment in one or more of the nation's underground coal mines; that there are a number of survivors of coal miners whose deaths were due to this disease; and that few states provide benefits for death or disability due to this disease to coal miners or their surviving dependents. It is, therefore, the the purpose of this subchapter to provide benefits, in cooperation with the States, to coal miners who are totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis and to the surviving dependents of miners whose death was due to such disease; and to insure that in the future adequate benefits are provided to coal miners and their dependents in the event of their death or total disability due to pneumoconiosis.' (30 U.S.C.A. Section 901).

The above section indicates that Congress intended to guarantee adequate benefits upon a permanent basis and not merely during the effective period of the act.

Section 921 of the act provided for the promulgation of standards defining total disability and certain presumptions that were to be considered. Section 922 providing for the payment of benefits required that the amounts awarded be reduced on a monthly or other appropriate basis by an amount equal to any payment received under a state workmen's compensation act, the consequence being that the federal payments merely supplemented payments by the states, where made, to the point where Congress was of the opinion that the recipient was receiving adequate benefits.

Section 923(a) of the act provided that the federal authorities would accept claims for benefits under the act until December 31, 1972, while 923(c) provided that no claim for benefits under the act would be considered unless the claimant had also filed a claim under the state workmen's compensation law prior to or at the same time his claim was filed for benefits under the act.

What we might term the penalty provisions of the act are set out in Sections 931 and 932. Section 931(a) provides that on or after January 1, 1973, claims for benefits for total disability due to pneumoconiosis should be filed pursuant to the applicable state workmen's compensation law, except during such period when the state law does not provide adequate coverage for pneumoconiosis. Section 931(b) defines adequate coverage of a state law as being, in effect, the same coverage provided by the federal act. The state law would be considered inadequate unless the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare should have established its adequacy by publishing this fact in the Federal Register.

Section 932 provides that during any period after December 31, 1972, in which the state workmen's compensation law is not on the list published by the secretary all black-lung...