Arizona Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Industrial Comm'n

In Arizona Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Industrial Comm'n, 176 Ariz. 318, 861 P.2d 603 (Ariz. 1993), the Arizona Supreme Court said: "We fail to see the wisdom in holding that an employee who loses a post-injury job because of misconduct voluntarily forfeits benefits for a loss of earning capacity which, depending on the nature and extent of disability, may be quite profound." Id. at 608. The appellate court went on to note: "Misconduct should be - - and is - - irrelevant except as it pertains to . . . causation . . . . Payment of benefits does not depend on a claimant's good moral character, but is based simply on an injury within the scope of the workers' compensation statutes. Termination reasons unrelated to the industrial injury, such as layoff, strike, economic conditions, or misconduct become significant only where the evidence demonstrates that they, rather than claimant's disability, caused the subsequent inability to secure work."