Court Opinion

ID: 9752493
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 18:09:31.185634+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:16.839067
License: Public Domain

LARSEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. In this case, the estate of a deceased driver has sued the no-fault insurance carrier which insured the vehicle involved. That carrier has attempted to avoid its obligations under its no-fault policy and the No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act, 40 P.S. §§ 1009.101-1009.701 by asserting the employer’s immunity embodied in section 303 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 77 P.S. § 481(a) (“The liability of an employer under this act shall be exclusive and in place of any and all other liability . .. (emphasis added)”). Thus, the issue is whether a no-fault carrier may avail itself of the immunity granted to an employer under section 303-*170not whether section 303 allows a “no-fault exception.”1 The majority finds the distinction between an employer and that employer’s no-fault carrier to have no legal relevance, “for an insurer provides coverage for an employer’s possible liability and has no independent basis for liability on [the insurer’s] its own part.” At 1067. While this may be true, it is not dispositive of the issue, and it ignores the fact that a no fault insurer provides coverage only for an insured’s no-fault liability, not for possible workmen’s compensation liability. Contrary to the majority’s assertion, the distinction is significant, as, the only insurer entitled by statute to share an employer’s section 303 immunity is the employer’s workmen’s compensation carrier.2 That shared immunity does not extend to insurance carriers who insure an employer for types of liability other than that provided for in the Workmen’s Compensation Act. See 77 P.S. § 701, note 2 supra.
On the distinction between an employer and the employer’s no-fault carrier, the majority adds
*171“Further, the No-Fault Act provides that an “ ‘obligor’ means an insurer, self-insurer or obligated government providing no fault benefits in accordance with this act.” 40 P.S. § 1009.103 (Supp. 1979-80). The act mandates a motor vehicle owner to provide protection either by providing self-insurance or by purchasing insurance and the liability under the act arises from the obligation to provide that protection.”
At 1067. I fail to perceive the significance of this item that a no-fault insurer is an “obligor” under the No-Fault Act adds nothing to the analysis of whether that insurer is an “employer” under the Workmen’s Compensation Act or of whether that insurer should share the employer’s section 303 immunity.
For the foregoing reasons, I would reverse the Order of the Superior Court and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
KAUFFMAN, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.

. The majority states “Appellant argues, however, that two sections of the No-Fault Act evidence the legislature’s intention to create an exception to section 303 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act.” At 1064. While this statement may be an appropriate lead-in to the majority’s “no-fault exception” analysis, it is an unfair characterization of appellant’s argument. Appellant specifically states "The issue in the case at bar, therefore, is not whether the No-Fault Act provides an exception to the prohibition of suit by an employee against an employer. The question presented in this petition and in the courts below is whether any law exempts an employer’s no-fault carrier from fulñlíing its contractual and legal obligations under the No-Fault Act.” Brief for Appellant at 12. (latter emphasis in original).

. The employer’s immunity of section 303 is extended to his workmen’s compensation insurance carrier by section 401, 77 P.S. § 701, which provides: “The term ‘employer,’ when used in this article, shall mean the employer as defined in article one of this act, or his duly authorized agent, or his insurer if such insurer has assumed the employer’s liability or the fund if the employer be insured therein.” (emphasis added). That section also states “insurance” and “carrier” “when used in this article, shall mean the State Workmen’s Insurance Fund or other insurance carrier which has insured the employer’s liability under this act, or the employer in cases of self-insurance.” (emphasis added).