Court Opinion

ID: 9698697
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:57:56.816382+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:42.871468
License: Public Domain

ELDRIDGE, Judge,
dissenting:
I disagree with the majority’s interpretation of Maryland Code (1957, 1979 Repl.Vol., 1984 Cum.Supp.), Art. 101, § 58.
*235The Court holds that the second paragraph of § 58 tolls the running of unexpired limitations for an action against a third party tortfeasor during the two months following a compensation award to an injured worker. There is nothing in the second paragraph of § 58 supporting such an interpretation. Moreover, the majority’s interpretation is directly contrary to the language used by the General Assembly. Section 58 plainly states that “the period of limitations for such action, as to such employee, shall not begin to run until two months after the first award of compensation____” The majority fails to give any effect to this language specifying when limitations shall begin to run. Instead, it holds that the statutory language refers to a tolling of the limitations period set forth in § 5-101 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article. This is a blatant substitution of the Court’s language for that employed by the Legislature. When the Legislature intends to enact a tolling provision, it knows how to do so. See, e.g., § 5-202 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.
This Court has said that the purpose of § 58 is to protect both the injured worker and the employer/insurer, Gray v. State Roads Comm’n, 253 Md. 421, 252 A.2d 810 (1969); Johnson v. Miles, 188 Md. 455, 53 A.2d 30 (1947); Railway Co. v. Assurance Corp., 163 Md. 97, 161 A. 5 (1932). Assuming arguendo that this Court’s rewriting of § 58 still protects the employee, it is clearly inconsistent with the additional purpose of protecting the employer. The employer’s subrogation right does not arise until the employer pays an award. But, in the absence of a statute providing otherwise, limitations as to the employer’s claim begin running when the subrogee/injured worker’s cause of action accrues. Carroll v. Bowling, 151 Md. 59, 68, 133 A. 851 (1926); Am. Bonding Co. v. Mechanics Bank, 97 Md. 598, 607, 55 A. 395 (1903). See also Northwest’n Nat. Ins. Co. v. Rosoff, 195 Md. 421, 434-435, 73 A.2d 461 (1950). Section 58 is a statute which clearly changes the time when limitations begin to run. The majority opinion, however, refuses to give it this effect. The majority’s interpretation *236could result in a situation where an employer cannot bring an action because there has not yet been a compensation award, but the limitations period has expired because over three years have passed since the employee suffered or discovered an injury.
By amending the express language of the statute through judicial fiat, the majority has undermined interests which § 58 was designed to protect.