Title: Sneed v. Verdun
Citation: 611 So. 2d 947
Docket Number: 90-CA-0106
State: Mississippi
Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court
Date: December 31, 1992

611 So. 2d 947 (1992) Thomas C. SNEED v. Cynthia T. VERDUN, Body Shop Supply and United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company. No. 90-CA-0106. Supreme Court of Mississippi. December 31, 1992. John H. Whitfield, Biloxi, Leonard A. Radlauer, New Orleans, LA, for appellant. Stephen J. Maggio, Fredrick B. Feeney, II, Paul M. Franke, Jr., Franke, Rainey &amp; Salloum, Gulfport, for appellees. Before HAWKINS, P.J., and PITTMAN and ROBERTS, JJ. HAWKINS, Presiding Justice, for the Court: Thomas C. Sneed has appealed the decision of the Harrison County Circuit Court to allow United States Fidelity and Guaranty to intervene in a case involving Sneed and defendants Cynthia T. Verdun and Body Shop, after the parties effected a settlement. Finding that the intervention was allowed by statute and the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, we affirm. Thomas C. Sneed was employed by Good Housekeeping Services, a janitorial service business in Harrison County, whose workers' compensation carrier was United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company (USF &amp; G). On May 23, 1988, Sneed was in a motor vehicle accident in Harrison County with Cynthia T. Verdun, an employee of Body Shop Supply Company, an Alabama corporation. On January 19, 1989, Sneed filed a complaint against Verdun and Body Shop for personal injuries received in the accident.[1] On July 31, 1989, Sneed filed with the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission (the Commission) a petition for approval of a Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-29 (1972) (originally known as "Section 9(i)" of 1948 session laws of Workers' Compensation Act) settlement with his employer and carrier, whereby he would be paid a lump sum of $25,000, releasing all claims except for Medicaid under Miss. Code Ann. § 43-13-125 (Supp. 1991). On October 3, 1989, the Commission entered an order authorizing this settlement. On or about November 21, 1989, while the trial against Verdun and Body Shop was in progress, the parties effected a settlement of $50,000 for Sneed's action, subject to court approval. *948 On November 28, 1989, the Harrison County Circuit Court authorized the settlement and dismissal of the action against Verdun and Body Shop with prejudice, but retained jurisdiction for proper disbursement of proceeds pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-71, and directed that notice be given to USF &amp; G. Sneed objected to USF &amp; G's receiving any of the proceeds under the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act, claiming it had not timely intervened as required by Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-71. The circuit judge's December 20, 1989, opinion rejected this contention. He allowed Sneed and his attorney to receive $20,391.50, and directed that the remainder be paid to USF &amp; G to recover the lump sum payment and a portion of the medical expenses. The medical expenses incurred were $14,478.07. Sneed has appealed. Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-71 provides in pertinent part: Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure 24(a) provides: Miss.R.Civ.P. 24(a). Sneed argues on his appeal that in order for USF &amp; G to be entitled to participate in the settlement proceeds, it was necessary that it join in the action sooner than when settlement was made in the trial. We disagree. See Miss.R.Civ.P. 24(a); Sawyer v. Head, 510 So. 2d 472, 478-79 (Miss. 1987); Guaranty Nat'l Ins. Co. v. Pittman, 501 So. 2d 377, 381 (Miss. 1987); McDonald v. E.J. Lavino, 430 F.2d 1065, 1072-74 (5th Cir.1970). AFFIRMED. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., DAN M. LEE, P.J., PRATHER, SULLIVAN, PITTMAN, BANKS and ROBERTS, JJ., concur. McRAE, J., dissents. [1] The complaint does not allege the name of the municipality in which the accident occurred, or the judicial district of the county. Apparently suit was filed in the First Judicial District. The county's judicial district is immaterial to this appeal and all reference to judicial district is omitted.