Court Opinion

ID: 9696862
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:00:40.061243+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:27.257508
License: Public Domain

LARSEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent.
The Workmen's Compensation Act, 77 P.S. §§ 101-1603, and the Uninsured Motorist Act, 40 P.S. § 2000, are self-contained legislative enactments which address discrete *477problems. Accord, Mathis v. Interstate Motor Freight System, 408 Mich. 164, 289 N.W.2d 708 (1980). The Workmen's Compensation Act provides a substitute for the common law tort liability of an employer who is negligent in failing to maintain a safe working environment. See Poyser v. Newman & Company, Inc., 514 Pa. 32, 522 A.2d 548 (1987) (Larsen, J., dissenting). The Uninsured Motorist Act is a substitute for common law tort liability and is designed to compensate victims of motor vehicle accidents involving uninsured drivers. An action for uninsured motorist benefits is based on contract and has nothing to do with the tort liability of an employer. See Wagner v. National Indemnity Co., 492 Pa. 154, 422 A.2d 1061 (1980) (Larsen, J., dissenting; Kauffman, J., dissenting).
The majority has lost sight of the fact that employees may have other ties with their employers, such as landlord/tenant, trustee/beneficiary, seller/buyer, etc. The laws that govern the particular relationship involved will determine the rights and liabilities of the parties. The exclusive remedy provision of the Workmen’s Compensation Act is not automatically triggered by the fact that the parties are also employer and employee.
The employees herein are seeking uninsured motorist benefits from an insurer who happens to be an employer. Liability to pay uninsured motorist benefits is based on a party’s status as an insurer under the Uninsured Motorist Act. The employer-employee relationship is of no consequence under the Uninsured Motorist Act, and the employer as uninsured motorist insurer has absolutely nothing whatever to do with the rights and liabilities prescribed by the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Hence, the exclusivity provision of the Workmen’s Compensation Act should not apply herein.
Accordingly, I would reverse the orders of Superior Court and would remand these cases to permit appellants to pursue their claims.