Court Opinion

ID: 9722540
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:38:26.568422+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:36.797586
License: Public Domain

Karen R. Baker, Judge, concurring. Appellants appeal the trial court’s grant of summary judgment finding that Appellants were precluded under the workers’ compensation exclusive-remedy doctrine from pursuing a negligence claim against their employer and therefore were not legally entided to pursue a negligence claim against their employer’s insurance carrier in a direct action. I agree with the trial court’s finding that on the facts presented in this case, the exclusive-remedy doctrine applies. Therefore, I concur with the majority opinion. The majority addresses the language in the contract regarding an uninsured motorist and reaches it decision based upon the policy’s provisions. The trial court’s decision, however, was based upon the application of the exclusive-remedy doctrine to preclude appellants’ claim. While the court’s order discussed the language of the uninsured motorist endorsement,1 the policy’s provision does nothing more than articulate the requirement that the damages suffered must be based upon a legally cognizable claim. The “exclusive remedy” provision of Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-105 applies to the fact situation presented in this case. The exclusive-remedy provision of the Act is found at Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-105, and states in part: The rights and remedies granted to an employee subject to the provisions of this chapter, on account of injury or death, shall be exclusive of all other rights and remedies of the employee, his legal representative, dependents, next of kin, or anyone otherwise entitled to recover damages from the employer, or any principal, officer, director, stockholder, or partner acting in his capacity as an employer, or prime contractor of the employer, on account of the injury or death, and the negligent acts of a coemployee shall not be imputed to the employer. No role, capacity, or persona of any employer, principal, officer, director, or stockholder other than that existing in the role of employer of the employee shall be relevant for consideration for purposes of this chapter, and the remedies and rights provided by this chapter shall in fact be exclusive regardless of the multiple roles, capacities, or personas the employer may be deemed to have. Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-105(a) (Repl. 2002). This provision clearly indicates that any claim for injury or death against an employer may only be brought under the Act, thus eliminating an employer’s tort liability. According to the Act, an employee’s remedy against his employer for injuries sustained on the job is to file a workers’ compensation claim, and this remedy is exclusive as to the employer, as stated in the statute, and has only been extended by this court to the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier. Cherry v. Tanda, 327 Ark. 600, 940 S.W.2d 457 (1997). The exclusivity provision of the Act mirrors the general purpose of the Act, which was to change the common law by shifting the burden of all work-related injuries from employers and employees and placing it on the consuming public, thus eliminating any need to prove fault. Brown v. Finney, 326 Ark. 691, 932 S.W.2d 769 (1996). This exclusive remedy favors both employers and employees. Id. See also Elam v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 344 Ark. 555, 42 S.W.3d 443 (2001). While I agree with appellants’ general proposition that it is against public policy to preclude recovery or allow setoff of underinsured or uninsured motorists benefits to workers who have also received workers’ compensation benefits, see Elam, supra; Travelers Ins. Co. v. Nat’l Farmers Union Prop. & Cas. Co., 252 Ark. 624, 480 S.W.2d 585 (1972), the trial court’s decision was based upon its finding that appellants’ claim was based exclusively upon allegations that the employer and fellow-employees failed to maintain the vehicle’s bucket and boom equipment in a safe condition. Because the claim is based only upon the employer’s negligence, and not upon a third-party contract or tort liability theory, the exclusive-remedy doctrine applies. Therefore, there is no need to resort' to contractual interpretation to determine whether appellants could maintain a claim, and the trial court properly entered summary judgment applying the exclusive-remedy doctrine. Accordingly, I concur.   The endorsement provides that Gulf “will pay all sums the ‘insured’ is legally entitled to recover as compensatory damages from the owner or driver of an ‘uninsured motor vehicle.’ ” (Emphasis added.)