Opinion ID: 2625620
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Statutory interpretation of NRS 687A.033(2)(a)

Text: NIGA argues that because MGM and SEI qualify as self-insured employers and, therefore, insurers under workers' compensation laws, MGM and SEI are insurers for purposes of the NIGA Act and cannot recover from NIGA. The issue of whether self-insured employers constitute insurers for NIGA Act purposes is an issue of first impression and requires this court to engage in statutory interpretation. This court has established that when it is presented with an issue of statutory interpretation, it should give effect to the statute's plain meaning. Public Employees' Benefits Prog. v. LVMPD, 124 Nev. ___, ___, 179 P.3d 542, 548 (2008). Thus, when the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, such that it is capable of only one meaning, this court should not construe that statute otherwise. Nevada Power Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n, 102 Nev. 1, 4, 711 P.2d 867, 869 (1986). However, if following the statute's apparent plain meaning results in a meaning that runs counter to the spirit of the statute, this court may look outside the statute's language. Public Employees' Benefits Prog., 124 Nev. at, 179 P.3d at 548; see also Universal Electric v. Labor Comm'r, 109 Nev. 127, 131, 847 P.2d 1372, 1374 (1993) (stating that this court will adhere to the rule of statutory construction that the intent of a statute will prevail over the literal sense of its words). MGM and SEI argue that a plain reading of the NIGA Act demonstrates that neither employer is an insurer and that NIGA is obligated to pay their claims as a result. In response, NIGA asserts that the term insurer, as used in the NIGA Act, is ambiguous and therefore requires this court to look outside the statutory scheme. It argues that because both the NIGA Act and the Workers' Compensation Act are inextricably intertwined, they must be read in conjunction with each other. Therefore, because the Workers' Compensation Act defines insurer to include self-insured employers, then, according to NIGA, self-insured employers are insurers under the NIGA Act as well.