Younger v. Industrial Commission

• Decision Date: 04 November 1975
• Docket Number: No. 1,CA-IC,1
• Citation: 541 P.2d 962,25 Ariz.App. 171
• Parties: Anna M. YOUNGER, Petitioner, v. The INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of Arizona, Respondent, Southern Arizona Properties, Inc., Respondent Employer, Home Insurance Company, Respondent Carrier. 1277.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

Page 962

541 P.2d 962

25 Ariz.App. 171

Anna M. YOUNGER, Petitioner, v.The INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of Arizona, RespondentSouthern Arizona Properties, Inc., RespondentEmployerHome Insurance Company, RespondentCarrier.

No. 1 CA-IC 1277.

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1, Department C.

Nov. 4, 1975.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 26, 1975.

Review Denied Jan. 6, 1976.

Rabinovitz, Minker & Dix, P.C., by James S. Dix, Tucson, for petitioner.

Greg L. Folger, Chief Counsel, The Industrial Commission of Arizona, Phoenix, for respondent.

Everett, Bury & Moeller, P.C., by J. Michael Moeller, Tucson, for respondents employer and carrier.

OPINION

NELSON, Presiding Judge.

On August 8, 1972, Anna M. Younger, petitioner herein (Younger), injured her knee when she slipped and fell on some loose gravel while working as a maid at the Skyline Country Club in Tucson, Arizona.Her claim for workmen's compensation benefits was accepted by the Home Insurance Company, respondent carrier (Carrier) and benefits paid.

As a result of the injury, two surgical procedures were undertaken.Initially a lateral meniscectomy and patellectomy were performed.When the knee continued to click and grind, the knee was again surgically explored, resulting in the removal of bone fragments and the transplanting of a tendon.The first surgery was performed on April 26, 1973, the second on October 17, 1973.Younger continued to be treated and on February 6, 1974, the orthopedic surgeon, Lawrence M. Haas, M.D., found her condition to be stationary with a 20% Disability of the right lower extremity.

On February 28, 1974, the Carrier issued a Notice of Claim Status terminating temporary disability compensation as of February 6, 1974, with a finding of permanent partial disability of 20% Of the right lower extremity, a scheduled injury (A.R.S. § 23--1044B).Younger protested this award, claiming an unscheduled disability pursuant to A.R.S. § 23--1044E.Hearings were held on July 8, 1974 and September 11, 1974.On September 20, 1974, the hearing officer issued his decision and award for a scheduled permanent partial disability.When this award was affirmed by the hearing officer on review, the matter was brought before this Court on certiorari.We affirm the award.

Younger urges that this Court's decision in Moore v. The Industrial Commission of Arizona, 16 Ariz.App. 284, 492 P.2d 1222(1972), earlier opinion 12 Ariz.App. 325, 470 P.2d 473(1970) is persuasive and requires the award to be set aside.We agree that the decision is persuasive, as well as instructive on the point in issue, but, in our view, it requires the award here to be affirmed.

Both Moore and Younger were maids and were injured on duty.Both initially had two surgeries on the knee and had scheduled injuries to the lower extremity (see: 12 Ariz.App. 325, 470 P.2d 473, supra).From this point forward, the cases differ substantially.Moore had two more surgical procedures which left her with a fused (stiff) knee and a foot internally rotated 30 degrees.While there is some very persuasive dicta that such radical surgery would cause a...