State v. Industrial Accident Commission

Petitioner, State of California Subsequent Injuries Fund, seeks annulment of an award against it made by respondent commission in a proceeding by an employer’s insurance carrier to secure, under the provisions of section 5500.5 of the Labor Code, apportionment of liability to an employe who had become permanently totally disabled from silicosis suffered as the result of successive employments. We have concluded that respondent Industrial Accident Commission erroneously applied the section retrospectively, and that the award should be annulled.

The facts appear to be undisputed. The employe, Erickson, was employed as an underground miner over the period 1924-1949 by various metal mining employers; during such periods of employment he was exposed to free silica dust, the cumulative effect of which contributing exposures was to cause the disease of silicosis. This chronology followed:

September 10, 1949. The disease, which constitutes an injury within the meaning of the workmen’s compensation law, culminated in disability (total). In the subsequent proceedings the commission found, in accordance with statutory law, that “said date accordingly constitutes the date of injury herein.”…