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Docket No. 93251-Agenda 12-November 2002.

TERRY HAMILTON, Appellant, v. THE INDUSTRIAL 
COMMISSION et al. (American National Can Company,
Appellee).

Opinion filed February 6, 2003.

JUSTICE FITZGERALD delivered the opinion of the court:

Terry Hamilton appeals the decision of the appellate court'sIndustrial Commission Division in favor of his former employer,American National Can Company (American Can). The issue inthis case is whether a former employer is liable to paycompensation under the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act (theAct) (820 ILCS 310/1 et seq. (West 2000)), for an employee'sexposure to an occupational disease hazard, where the employeewas last exposed to that hazard while working with anotheremployer. We hold that the Act clearly limits liability to theemployer in whose employment the employee was last exposed tothe hazard. Accordingly, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Hamilton began working for American Can, a metal canmanufacturer, at its Hoopeston, Illinois, facility in 1970. Over thenext 25 years, he gradually ascended the assembly departmentproduction ladder-from stacker operator to coater operator to"bodymaker" and "slitter" mechanic, a position which he held for15 years. As a mechanic, Hamilton maintained and repaired themachines that form the cylinder portion of a can. According toHamilton, these machines are extremely loud. Tests confirmedHamilton's opinion: the noise from these machines exceededrecommendations from the Occupational Health and SafetyAgency. Hamilton often worked in close proximity to thesemachines, and he was often exposed to their noise. In March 1995,Hamilton became a millwright, a similar maintenance position thatcovered the entire plant. Again, he was often exposed to extremelyloud noise. Though American Can supplied ear protection,Hamilton chose not to wear it, because he needed to hear variousmachines to diagnose problems and keep them running smoothly.Hamilton worked full time at the plant, sometimes as long as 12hours a day for seven days a week. On August 1, 1995, AmericanCan sold the plant to Silgan Container Corporation (SilganContainer), another metal can manufacturer. Hamilton remainedat the plant and began working for Silgan Container.

Hamilton first experienced hearing difficulty in 1986, and,eventually, in 1996, he filed separate hearing loss claims under theAct against American Can and Silgan Container. See 820 ILCS310/7 (West 2000). These claims were consolidated, and,following a hearing, an arbitrator found that Hamilton hadsustained a permanent hearing loss of 39.4% in his left ear and42.5% in his right ear. The arbitrator apportioned this loss betweenAmerican Can and Silgan Container. The arbitrator concluded thatmore than 92% of his total left ear hearing loss and more than 57%of his total right ear hearing loss was attributable to hisemployment with American Can. The remaining approximately8% of his left ear hearing loss and approximately 42% of his rightear hearing loss was attributable to Silgan Container. SilganContainer paid its portion of the award; American Can soughtreview by the Industrial Commission.

The Industrial Commission reversed, concluding that undersection 1(d) of the Act, American Can was not Hamilton'semployer with whom he was last exposed to the hazard of loudnoise: "While [Hamilton] was clearly exposed to industrial noisewhile working for [American Can] and had some degree ofhearing loss, he continued to be exposed to industrial noise whilethe plant was owned by [Silgan Container] ***. As a result,[Silgan Container] was the 'last employer' and is liable for[Hamilton's] benefit's [sic] under the plain language of