Southwest Restaurant Systems v. Industrial Commission

OPINION

SHELLEY, Judge.

This is a special action review of an Arizona Industrial Commission award adopting the presumptive average monthly wage. The dispositive issue is whether the Administrative Law Judge had discretion to disregard actual earnings during the thirty days before the industrial injury because respondent employee (claimant) intended to limit her future income to avoid having her Social Security benefits reduced. We conclude that the Administrative Law Judge lacked such discretion and, accordingly, affirm the award for the presumptive average monthly wage.

On June 25, 1989,…