Opinion ID: 564886
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Apportionment Among Types of Damages

Text: 14 We adopt the Director's position that the statute does not call for apportionment among types of damages. On its face, the statute does not distinguish among the various types of damages that might be recovered in a third party action for a particular injury or death. It simply says that an employer may offset the net amount recovered against such third person for the occupational injury or death that is compensable under the Act. 33 U.S.C. Sec. 933(f). The net amount is defined as the actual amount of recovery less litigation fees. Id. As the Director argues, [t]here is no allowance for insulating any portion of the recovery from offset, save litigation expenses. Director's Brief at 12. 15 Because the statute is easily susceptible to the Director's interpretation, we need go no further. We note, however, that the D.C. Circuit, the only other court of appeals to have addressed this question, has also adopted the Director's position. In Brandt v. Stidham Tire Co., 785 F.2d 329 (D.C.Cir.1986), a LHWCA claimant argued that the ALJ improperly deducted from his LHWCA benefits the full amount for which he settled his personal injury tort claim against a third party, including the amount which represented damages for pain and suffering. The D.C. Circuit rejected this argument, holding that the ALJ properly applied LHWCA in deducting the recovery for pain and suffering. The court noted that this interpretation of LHWCA is in accord with the prevailing rule under state workers' compensation statutes of full offset for third party recoveries for pain and suffering, even when the portion of the award for pain and suffering is clearly separable from the portion attributable to economic losses. Id. at 331. 1 16 We hold that the ALJ did not err in allowing Kaiser to offset non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and punitive damages. LHWCA allows employers to offset the entire amount of a claimant's third party recovery.