Opinion ID: 1429594
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Private Pensions

Text: K.S.A. 44-501(h) also allows an offset against workers compensation benefits, which an injured worker would otherwise be entitled to, for selected private pension retirement benefits, but only if the employer has contributed to the private pension, and even then no offset against the workers compensation benefits is allowed for the pension benefits attributable to an employee's contribution. The plaintiffs claim that the private pension offset provision violates equal protection because it treats pension plans in which an employer has directly contributed funds different from all other retirement plans, without a rational basis. According to the plaintiffs, all private pension plans are actually paid for by employees through years of labor. Thus, retired injured workers who receive private pensions are all similarly situated. Yet, they receive different amounts of workers compensation benefits depending on how much money, if any, their employer directly contributed to a private pension fund. The plaintiffs claim that no legitimate purpose is served by this disparate treatment of similarly situated injured employees which K.S.A. 44-501(h) requires. Thus, the plaintiffs assert that K.S.A. 44-501(h) violates equal protection. See Stephenson v. Sugar Creek Packing, 250 Kan. 768, 830 P.2d 41 (1992). We hold the legislature intended to prevent duplication of wage loss replacement with the offset provision. The legislature concluded that it did not make sense to prevent duplication of replacement wages from social security benefits that were partially employer funded and not prevent such duplication of wages from employer-funded private pensions. Thus, the legislature allowed employer contributions in private pension plans, paid to retired injured workers, to offset employer-funded workers compensation benefits paid to the same injured workers, so as to prevent duplication of wage loss replacement. This is a public policy issue. The legislature believes such an offset will encourage employers to furnish retirement plans for employees because the employer will not be required to duplicate wage replacement should an injured worker retire. The prevention of wage loss duplication is a legitimate State goal, and the offset provisions for employer-funded retirement plans (social security or private pensions) are rationally related to this goal. K.S.A. 44-501(h) does not violate equal protection.