Commission’s decision that facts did not support section 19(k) penalties and section 16 attorney fees was not against the manifest weight of the evidence; no abuse of discretion for Commission to refuse to award penalties and attorney fees under facts of case
How later courts described this case
- Commission’s decision that facts did not support section 19(k) penalties and section 16 attorney fees was not against the manifest weight of the evidence; no abuse of discretion for Commission to refuse to award penalties and attorney fees under facts of case
- "The refusal of an employer to pay for an injured employee's medical expenses is as contrary to the purposes of the [Act] as an employer's refusal to compensate the employee for lost earnings. * * * Indeed, to the extent that nonpayment of medical expenses may imperil the employee's ability to obtain future treatment, the consequences of the employer's actions may actually be far worse."
- "Under basic rules of statutory construction, where the same words appear in different parts of the same statute, they should be given the same meaning unless something in the context indicates that the legislature intended otherwise"
- statutes should be construed to avoid an absurd result
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
JUSTICE MILLER, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I do not agree with the part of the majority opinion that overrules Childress v. Industrial Comm’n, 93 Ill. 2d 144 (1982), or with the majority’s interpretation of section 16 of the Workers’ Compensation Act. In my view, we should continue to follow Childress until the legislature changes the statutory language on which that opinion is based.
In overruling Childress, the majority relies primarily on the last antecedent rule, a maxim invoked by the dissenting justice in Childress. Childress, 93 Ill. 2d at 152-53 (Simon, J., concurring in part & dissenting in part). That rule of statutory construction is overcome here, however, by another well-established rule: the principle that legislative acquiescence in a judicial interpretation of a statute becomes part of the statute itself and should not be lightly altered by later cases. In Berlin v. Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, 179 Ill. 2d 1, 20-21 (1997), Justice Harrison, writing in dissent, explained the operation of this principle:
“The legislature is presumed to know the construction the courts have placed upon a statute. When it amends a statute but does not alter a previous interpretation by this court, we assume that the legislature intended for the amendment to have the same interpretation previously given. Williams v. Crickman, 81 Ill. 2d 105, 111 (1980). Moreover, where the legislature has acquiesced in a judicial construction of the law over a substantial period of time, as it did here, the court’s construction becomes part of the fabric of the law, and a departure from that construction by the court would be tantamount to an amendment of the statute itself. Charles v. Siegfried, 165 Ill. 2d 482, 492 (1995). The power to make such amendments does not lie in the courts. Independent Voters v. Illinois Commerce Comm’n, 117 Ill. 2d 90, 100 (1987).”
These same considerations compel our continued adherence to Childress and its interpretation of section 16. Like Justice Harrison in Berlin, I believe that in this case “a departure from that construction by the court would be tantamount to an amendment of the statute itself.” The legislature has amended this provision of the Act three times since Childress was decided 16 years ago, in 1982, yet the legislature has chosen not to alter the language this court interpreted in its earlier decision. By now, that interpretation has become part of the “fabric of the law.” For these reasons, I would not overrule Childress. Any amendments to the statute at this late date should be made by the legislature and not by this court.
Finally, I would note that, unlike Childress, Brinkmann v. Industrial Comm’n, 82 Ill. 2d 462 (1980), was limited by this court soon after it was decided, and the legislature has not altered that limited interpretation.