176 N.W.2d 874 | Minn. | 1970
Certiorari to review a decision of the Workmen’s Compensation Commission denying death benefits to petitioner, Lorna Norton, widow of Lon Norton, upon a determination that her claim is barred'by the statute of limitations, Minn. St. 176.151 (2).
The procedural facts are undisputed. On October 9, 1965, Lon Norton, president of the Norton Potato Company, a family-owned corporation, was involved in an automobile accident, sustaining injuries which resulted in his death on November 9, 1965. A written report of the accident stating “[k]illed in two-car accident while under scope.of employment” was filed by the employer with the commission on December 28, 1965. On the same date, the employer’s insurer, Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company, filed with the commission a notice of denial of liability, alleging that the accident did not arise out of and in the course of employment. On April 20,1966, petitioner’s attorney mailed an “original” claim petition
As- comprehensively outlined in the memorandum of the referee and the opinion of the commission, Minn. St. 176.151 fixes 6 years from the date of the accident' or death as the time limit within which an action or proceeding for compensation benefits must be initiated, with the right of the employer-insurer to reduce that period to 2 years by filing a “written report of the injury” or a “written notice of death,” as the case may be, with the commission. Minn. St. 176.271 establishes that “all proceedings * * * are initiated by the filing of a written petition on a prescribed form with the commission at its principal office.” Printed instructions on the prescribed form of claim petition, as well as the administrative rules of the commission supplementing these statutory provisions, are in all respects consistent with them.
From the undisputed procedural facts, it is manifest that the petitioner’s action was not commenced within 2 years from December 28, 1965, and is therefore barred unless, as she argues, a proceeding was initiated when the insurer filed an answer to the “original” claim petition with the commission. Although our prior cases make clear that an insurer can initiate a proceeding by paying benefits to an employee or dependent, Nyberg v. Little Falls Black Granite Co. 192 Minn. 404, 256 N. W. 732; Rasmussen v. City of St. Paul, 215 Minn. 458, 10 N. W. (2d) 419, such did not happen in this case. Accordingly, we agree .with the commission that there is no provision in the statutes or any rule of the commission-upon which to base a finding that any proceeding was initiated within the time required by § 176.151 or a finding that the petitioner was misled into waiting beyond the 2-year statutory period upon any express or implied promise by the insurer of a waiver of the statute of limitations. Contrary to petitioner’s argument, the problem is not one involving a question of interpretation of the statutory provisions— which we acknowledge must be liberally construed in favor.of the petitioner — but rather the application of a clear and unambiguous statutory mandate, susceptible of no judicial construction, to- undisputed facts. Nor do we regard Kreidler v. Mahnomen Elec. Light & Power Serv. Co. 154 Minn. 23, 191 N. W. 277, as helpful to petitioner,
Regrettably, this record of neglect and failure to comply with the statutory requirements compelled the conclusion reached by the commission.
Affirmed.
Although on the form prescribed by the commission, this petition contained no allegation of survivorship and gave the appearance of being signed by decedent for benefits for injury rather than by a dependent seeking death benefits'.