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ALLEN v. ALLEN WATER & WASTEWATER6/19/1996
The issue before us on further review is whether the district court or the industrial commissioner must decide an issue involving an indemnification amount in this workers' compensation case. The district court and court of appeals concluded the amount of indemnity to which the insurer was entitled is a question of fact and, therefore, the case must be remanded to the industrial commissioner for resolution. We affirm
I. Background facts and proceedings. Petitioner Sandra Kay Allen (Allen) is the surviving spouse of Thomas Allen, a professional engineer and late president and an employee of Allen Water and Wastewater Engineering, Inc. (Wastewater) Thomas was killed in an automobile accident (in which Allen was a passenger) on January 13, 1990. Wastewater's workers' compensation insurer was Kemper Insurance Company
After the accident, the estate of Thomas Allen brought a third-party wrongful death action against the negligent tortfeasors whose vehicle struck the Allen vehicle and caused the death of Thomas Allen. The estate received a settlement of $70,000 from the tortfeasors' automobile insurers in the wrongful death action
Apart from the wrongful death settlement, Allen sought and was denied workers' compensation benefits from Kemper for her husband's death. Thereafter, Allen filed a claim for workers' compensation death benefits, see Iowa Code § 85.31 (1993), with the Iowa industrial commissioner's office against the employer, Wastewater, and its insurer, Kemper. In March 1993, after litigating the disputed claim, Allen was awarded death benefits arising out of the work-related death of her husband
At the arbitration hearing on Allen's workers' compensation claim, Kemper asserted its indemnity rights, for any sums it would have to pay Allen, under Iowa Code section 85.22(1) (1993) from the $70,000 recovery Thomas' estate received from the tortfeasors. Allen agreed that statute created such rights as claimed by Kemper. Allen and Kemper only disputed the amount of indemnity Kemper was entitled to in the event it was ordered to pay Allen benefits.
Relying on our decision in Fisher v. Keller Industries, Inc., 485 N.W.2d 626 (Iowa 1992), the industrial commissioner believed that Kemper had no indemnity rights under section 85.22(1) for benefits not yet paid and, therefore, denied Kemper's request for indemnification from the proceeds of Thomas' estate's wrongful death settlement. Based on this conclusion, the commissioner did not decide the amount of Kemper's indemnity entitlement. The commissioner also made other rulings not challenged on this appeal
Both Allen and Kemper filed petitions in district court for judicial review of the commissioner's decision. See Iowa Code §§ 17A.19, 86.26 (1993). The district court reversed the commissioner's ruling that denied Kemper's request for indemnification. Relying on our decision in Shirley v. Pothast, 508 N.W.2d 712 (Iowa 1993), the court concluded Kemper was entitled to indemnity but did not specify the amount. The court remanded the case to the industrial commissioner for a determination of the amount of indemnity to which Kemper was entitled. Stated another way, the court remanded the case with instructions for the commissioner to determine the value of Kemper's indemnity entitlement that it held existed [549 NW2d Page 518]
Allen appealed the district court's decision. See Iowa Code § 17A.20; Iowa R. App. P. 1. We transferred Allen's appeal to the court of appeals. See Iowa Code § 602.4102(2). That court affirmed the decision of the district court
We granted Allen's application for further review. See id. § 602.4102(4). We review the district court's legal conclusi
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