Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Industrial Commission

I do not join the main opinion because it sanctions the payment of compensation for preexisting incapacities by indulging in a theory of second injury fund liability not within the contemplation of U.C.A., 1953, § 35-1-69. It does so by simply combining the percentage of preexisting incapacity (33%) with the percentage of incapacity attributable to the current industrial injury (2%), and drawing the conclusion that since Chavez’s total incapacity has increased, the “substantially greater” language of section 35-1-69 is met. I disagree.

Section 35-1-69, as it provided at the time of the…