Findley v. Industrial Accident Commission

HOUSER, J.

It appears that in a certain proceeding brought before the Industrial Accident Commission an order was made including an award to petitioner herein of the sum of $2,500, to be paid to her by Thomas Gordon, George W. Harrison, and Charles W. Russell, individually and as co-partners, doing business under the firm name of Gordon & Harrison, and which award on rehearing of the matter by the said Commission was thereafter by it affirmed. Thereupon the petitioner herein applied to said Commission for a certified copy of such award, but such application was by said Commission refused. Whereupon petitioner filed her petition herein for a writ of mandate to be directed to said Commission, commanding it to issue to said petitioner a certified copy of said award.

Before the application herein for said writ of mandate could be heard by this court, the defendant in the proceeding before the Commission, against whom the said order of award had been made, petitioned this court for a writ of

certiorari

for the purpose of reviewing the proceedings which resulted in such order of award. Such last-mentioned matter having come on regularly for hearing and decision, it was ordered by this court that the said order of award so far as it purported to award to petitioner the sum of $2,500 to be paid by said individual defendants be annulled.

(Gordon et al.

v.

Industrial Acc. Com.

(Cal. App.), 249 Pac. 844.) In the proceeding before the Commission, however, the petitioner was granted further pecuniary relief as against one other defendant, and so far as said award affects said defendant, the rights, if any, of petitioner to have issued to her a certified copy of the award remain intact.

The ordinary rule as to public writings is that any citizen is entitled to inspect them, and that on his demand and the payment by him of the legal fees therefor, the custodian of such writings is bound to give to such citizen a certified copy thereof. (Sec. 1893, Code Civ. Proc.) That rule, however, applies to public documents only in the absence of a special rule to the contrary or one which places some limitation upon the general rule. The law with reference to the right of a party to a certified copy of the findings and the award by the Industrial Accident Commission is set

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