Court Opinion

ID: 9847265
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:56:44.664992+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:04.969568
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
On December 18, 1970, Judge Hall, the writer of the dissent in this case, dissented, requiring, under our rules, that these cases be considered by the entire court. The vote now stands in case #45559 with seven Judges for affirmance, and two for dissent. As to case #45560, three of the majority of seven are of the opinion *475that the judgment should be affirmed in part and reversed insofar as the board attempted to require the claimant Crowder to refund sums received under its claim for payments as workmen’s compensation. The majority of seven are in full agreement that the board, being only administrative in nature, had no authority whatsoever to act as a court and attempt to require a claimant to refund any payments. Four of the judges here, including the writer of the majority, are of the opinion that this language was mere surplusage, beyond the authority of the board to act, and amounts to a mere nullity, requiring no reversal. It is quite clear that all the parties involved in this case sought to make this administrative board into a court to declare the rights of the parties (Ga. L. 1945, p. 137; 1959, pp. 236, 238) which can only be done in the superior courts of this State.
The movant here professes still not to understand the decision rendered, professing that the decision implies that any attempt by the insurer to recover these amounts which it had paid, would not lie in any court. This court rendered no such decision since that question must be decided by a court having jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject matter. However, this court did hold that the board was correct in determining that all parties received notice of the subrogation rights of the insurer and employer as required by the statute, and the board properly stopped all future payments of workmen’s compensation.
But the main thrust of the motion is that the court erred in holding that the board had no authority over additional medical benefits provided by the additional medical coverage endorsement for $10,000 over and above that authorized by the statute. Even the dissenting judges here are in agreement that the board has no such jurisdiction. Hence, this portion of our judgment is, in effect, affirmed by all nine of our judges. The dissent simply seeks to require the board, in a subrogation case, to declare the rights of all the parties and render a judgment accordingly. Seven of the judges of the majority do not agree.
Because of the history of these cases, and to avoid any future misunderstanding, the above is added to this opinion. We thus repeat: "No ruling is here made as to the right of the subrogee to file any civil action against either the claimant or the insurer of *476the third party tortfeasor.” Since the Workmen’s Compensation Board is not a court and has no jurisdiction to declare the rights of the parties as a superior court, it can merely determine the amount of compensation and the time of payment and change the award it previously made.