Court Opinion

ID: 9797609
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:25:51.406442+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:54:24.424409
License: Public Domain

DURHAM, Chief Justice,
concurring:
¶ 29 I write separately to discuss an issue alluded to in footnote two of the majority opinion. In that footnote, we state that “any argument made by Thomas that her abstract of award should be evaluated using section 35-1-59, the section governing abstracts of awards that existed at the time of her injury, as opposed to the later amended section 34A-2-212, is ... moot.” ■ Thomas did, in fact, advance such an argument, and but for its mootness, I would find it determinative in this case. It raises the important question of how we analyze whether to apply statutory amendments — and specifically in this case, worker’s compensation statutory amendments — retroactively. For the benefit of future cases,11 wish to take this opportunity to clarify just how we should analyze the issue of whether to apply statutory changes retroactively.
¶ 30 We recognize an exception to the general prohibition on retroactive application of statutes. A statutory amendment that does not “ ‘enlarge, eliminate, or destroy”’ substantive rights is not substantive, and can therefore be applied retroactively. Moore v. Am. Coal Co., 737 P.2d 989, 990 (Utah 1987) (quoting State Dep’t of Soc. Sens. v. Higgs, 656 P.2d 998,1000 (Utah 1982)). This should not be the end of our analysis, however. We must remember our strong presumption against retroactivity, and also consider several factors when deciding whether to allow retroactive application.
¶31 First, the Utah Code provides that “[n]o part of these revised statutes is retroactive, unless expressly so declared.” Utah Code Ann. § 68-3-3 (2000). Consequently, Utah courts follow the general rule that “a *1210statute generally cannot be given retroactive effect unless the legislature expressly declares such an intent in the statute.” Washington Nat’l Ins. Co. v. Sherwood Assocs., 795 P.2d 665, 667 (Utah Ct.App.1990) (citing Utah Code Ann. § 68-3-3 (1986)); see also Madsen v. Borthick, 769 P.2d 245, 253 (Utah 1988); Stephens v. Henderson, 741 P.2d 952, 953 (Utah 1987); In re J.P., 648 P.2d 1364, 1369 (Utah 1982). Section 34A-2-212 of the Utah Code does not expressly provide for its retroactive application; if the issue were not moot, therefore, our default position would have to be that section 34A-2-212 was retroactively inapplicable unless it was clear that some exception could be invoked.
¶32 Superimposed on this foundational rule against retroactive application is a second general rule for workers’ compensation cases in particular: The parties’ rights in such cases are controlled by the law as it stood on the day of the accident. Moore, 737 P.2d at 990. This second general rule further strengthens the default position.
¶ 33 One exception to the general rule against retroactive application of laws in workers’ compensation cases is the “procedural” exception. According to this exception, amendments that merely alter the procedure by which substantive rights are adjudicated are retroactively applicable. The rule is simple enough to articulate, but it is much more difficult to determine whether a statutory change is procedural rather than substantive. We have differentiated “procedural” from “substantive” statutes in varying ways. As we said in Moore, an amendment is not substantive if it does not “ ‘enlarge, eliminate, or destroy’ ” substantive rights. 737 P.2d at 990 (quoting Higgs, 656 P.2d at 1000). “[A] statute is procedural when it provides a remedy for already existing rights or merely adds to or provides a substitute for already existing remedies.” Docutel Olivetti Corp. v. Dick Brady Sys., 731 P.2d 475, 478 (Utah 1986) (citing Boucofski v. Jacobsen, 36 Utah 165, 104 P. 117, 119 (1909)).
¶ 34 Significantly, “convenience and reasonableness are properly considered in determining whether legislation is remedial or procedural.” Moore, 737 P.2d at 990 (citing Boucofski, 104 P. at 119-20).) “Considerations of ‘convenience, reasonableness and justice’ should be taken into account in making determinations of legislative intent.” Docutel Olivetti, 731 P.2d at 478 (quoting Boucofski, 104 P. at 119)).
¶35 While we have not, in the past, expressly aligned Utah law with federal court pronouncements on retroactive application of statutory amendments, the federal rule is entirely sound. “Retroactivity is not favored in the law.” Bowen v. Georgetown Univ. Hosp., 488 U.S. 204, 208, 109 S.Ct. 468, 102 L.Ed.2d 493 (1988). When analyzing whether applying a statute as amended “would have retroactive effects inconsistent with the usual rule that legislation is deemed to be prospective,” we should use “a common sense, functional judgment about ‘whether the new provision attaches new legal consequences to events completed before its enactment.’ This judgment should be informed and guided by ‘familiar considerations of fair notice, reasonable reliance, and settled expectations.’ ” Martin v. Hadix, 527 U.S. 343, 357-58, 119 S.Ct. 1998, 144 L.Ed.2d 347 (1999) (quoting Landgraf v. USI Film Prods., 511 U.S. 244, 270, 114 S.Ct. 1483, 128 L.Ed.2d 229 (1994)). This approach is both complementary and analogous to our own mandate to consider “convenience, reasonableness, and justice.” Docutel Olivetti, 731 P.2d at 478 (internal quotation omitted).
¶ 36 As we use all these factors to analyze whether a given amendment enlarges, eliminates, or destroys substantive rights, however, we must keep in mind that the procedural exception to the general rule against retroac-tivity is “narrow.” J.P., 648 P.2d at 1369 n. 4 (Utah 1982). Furthermore, “[wjhen the Legislature amends a statute, we presume it intended to make a substantive, rather than a procedural or remedial change.” Wilde v. Wilde, 2001 UT App 318, ¶ 13, 35 P.3d 341 (citing Wilde v. Wilde, 969 P.2d 438, 442 (Utah Ct.App.1998)). Finally, this court should adhere to the deeply-rooted principle that “a court will and ought to struggle hard against a construction which will, by retrospective operation, affect the rights of parties.” United States v. The Schooner Peggy, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 103, 110, 2 L.Ed. 49 *1211(1801).2 We should fall back on our general rule against retroactive application when the presumption of substantiveness is not clearly rebutted. In other words, when in doubt, we should find that the statute is substantive.
¶ 37 The statutory provision at issue in Martin v. Hadix involved the amount of attorney fees that courts can award to attorneys who successfully litigate prisoner lawsuits. 527 U.S. at 347, 119 S.Ct. 1998. The statute, the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PLRA”), capped certain kinds of attorney fees, and the United States Supreme Court had to decide whether the cap was applicable only to attorney work performed after the PLRA’s effective date, or whether it could also be applied retroactively, to work that attorneys had performed before the effective date. Id.
¶ 38 The petitioners in Martin argued that the PLRA’s attorney fee provision should be retroactively applicable, “because fees questions are incidental to, and independent from, the underlying substantive cause of action. They do not, in other words, change the substantive obligations of the parties because they are collateral to the main cause of action.” Id. at 359, 119 S.Ct. 1998 (internal quotations omitted). The Martin Court did not disagree with the argument that the law did not change the parties’ substantive rights or obligations. See id. Consequently, if all it took to permit a new law’s retroactive application was the ability to characterize it as merely procedural, then the Martin petitioners should have had an airtight argument. They did not. Instead, the Martin Court emphasized that a more searching, nuanced analysis is necessary.
Attaching the label “collateral” to attorney’s fee questions does not advance the retroactivity inquiry, however. While it may be possible to generalize about types of rules that ordinarily will not raise retro-activity concerns, these generalizations do not end the inquiry. For example, in Landgrafwe acknowledged that procedural rules may often be applied to pending suits with no retroactivity problems, but we also cautioned that the mere fact that a new rule is procedural does not mean that it applies to every pending case. We took pains to dispel the suggestion that concerns about retroactivity have no application to procedural rules. When determining whether a new statute operates retroactively, it is not enough to attach a label (e.g., “procedural,” “collateral”) to the statute; we must ask whether the statute operates retroactively.
Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted) (emphasis added). Therefore, the Martin Court looked beyond the PLRA’s superficial procedural character. Applying “a common sense, functional judgment” that was “guided by familiar considerations of fair notice, reasonable reliance, and settled expectations,” id. at 357-58, 119 S.Ct. 1998 (internal quotation omitted), it found that the PLRA’s attorney fees cap could not be applied retroactively. Id. at 358-60,119 S.Ct. 1998.
¶39 If the retroactivity issue were not moot, this case would, like Martin, demand that we use our “common sense, functional judgment” to decide whether to impose the final- order requirement of Utah Code section 34A-2-212 on claims that arose before the requirement was enacted. Prior to the amendment, injured workers had a reasonable expectation of receiving subsistence payments, see Utah Code Ann. § 34A-2-413(6)(b)(i)(2000), and undisputed disability and medical benefits, see id. § 34A-2-413(6)(b)(ii), once they could make an initial showing that they were permanently totally disabled. They could reasonably rely on ALJs to order these payments because the Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) operate under a definitive statutory mandate to order them. An ALJ must order the payments, in every case, once he or she has made an initial finding of permanent total disability. See id. *1212§ 34A-2-413(6)(b) (providing that the ALJ “shall order” such payments “[p]rior to the finding becoming final”). Similarly, employers had the expectation that they would have to make those payments to injured workers. Employers and employees alike knew where they stood in the event that an employee made an initial showing of permanent total disability.
¶40 The new final order requirement, however, directly conflicts with this legislative mandate. “The statutes of this state require the courts to give legislative enactments a liberal construction, with a view to effectuate the purpose sought by the Legislature.” Utah Copper Co. v. Indus. Comm’n of Utah, 57 Utah 118, 193 P. 24, 29 (1920). If the final order requirement of section 34A-2-212(l)(a) is retroactive, it means that a permanently, totally disabled worker cannot enforce the ALJ’s order, because the worker cannot get an abstract of the ALJ’s order to issue. It is unreasonable to assume that the legislature intended to create a statutory conflict that would deprive permanently totally disabled workers of important rights. The amendment’s retroactive applicability means that the employer serendipitously benefits from what is apparently an unintended loophole, while the injured worker suffers serious hardship. Such a conclusion should offend our “common sense, functional judgment.” See Martin, 527 U.S. at 357-58, 119 S.Ct. 1998. If the retroactivity issue were not moot, therefore, I would hold that the final order requirement could not be applied retroactively.
¶41 Examining this case in light of the “convenience, reasonableness and justice” factors that we articulated in Moore, Docutel Olivetti, and Boucofski reinforces my conclusion. The majority acknowledges that its interpretation of the amendment creates a “problem” with section 34A-2-413(6)(b) that the legislature should “rectify.” Asking the legislature to fix the problem may be convenient for us, but it certainly does not satisfy the “convenience” factor for Ms. Thomas. Because of this statutory conflict, ALJs “shall order” employers to pay subsistence payments to injured workers, but the employers can flout those orders with impunity, because the ALJ’s initial finding of permanent total disability is not a “final order.” That can hardly be called “reasonable.” Ms. Thomas had an enforceable right to subsistence payments prior to the amendment, but applying the amendment retroactively emasculates that right without any indication that the legislature truly intended such a result. That is not “just.” At the very least, a careful analysis using all of these factors would raise enough doubt that use of the narrow procedural exception to escape the strong presumption against retroactivity would be misguided.
¶ 42 We have previously held that it would be improper to apply statutory amendments retroactively, even when those amendments seemingly implicated mere procedure. We have found, for example, that an amendment that alters the notice requirements of the Governmental Immunity Act is substantive. The plaintiff in Schultz v. Conger, 755 P.2d 165 (Utah 1988), sued a county employee for personal injuries that the county employee allegedly caused the plaintiff in a traffic accident. The defendant employee had been acting in the course of his employment at the time of the accident, but was engaged in a nongovernmental function. Id. at 166. At the time the plaintiff filed suit, Utah Code section 63-30-13 (1986) required the plaintiff to file a notice of claim with the county only if her claim arose from the performance of a true governmental function. Id. After the plaintiff had filed suit, the legislature amended section 63-30-13 to require the filing of a notice of claim whether the function from which the claim arose was governmental or nongovernmental.3 We held that the amend*1213ment did not apply to the ease, and that therefore the plaintiff only needed to follow the notice requirement that was in place when her claim arose. Id.
¶43 The amendment at issue in Schultz was similar to the one at issue in this case because it did not, on its face, appear to “enlarge, eliminate, or destroy” the plaintiffs substantive right to sue a government employee. It did not, for example, create or abolish any causes of action that a plaintiff might have against government employees acting within the scope of their employment. It did not raise or lower any of the evidentia-ry burdens that a plaintiff must bear to state a claim against a government employee. It simply imposed a requirement that a plaintiff file a notice of claim “with the governing body of the political subdivision within one year- after the claim arises.”' Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-13 (1997). While we did not explain the factors that moved us to find that the procedural exception did not apply, Schultz does demonstrate that in the past we have had no difficulty barring retroactive operation of changes in procedural law.
¶ 44 Utah courts have also been quite willing to reject interpretations of the Workers’ Compensation Act that would allow employers to avoid their payment obligations “in direct contravention to the larger purpose and spirit of the Workers’ Compensation Act.” Color Country Mgmt. v. Labor Comm’n, 2001 UT App 370, ¶ 21, 38 P.3d 969 (citing Wilstead v. Indus. Comm’n, 17 Utah 2d 214, 407 P.2d 692, 693 (1965) (listing purposes of the Act as insuring income to injured employees; eliminating the expense, delay, and uncertainty of employees having to prove negligence; and making industry bear the burdens of worker injuries)). For example, in Industrial Commission v. Daly Mining Co., 51 Utah 602, 172 P. 301 (1918), we rejected an employer’s proposed interpretation of the Workers’ Compensation Act because it would have made the Act “useless and of no material benefit.” Id. at 306. In this case, there can be no doubt that interpreting the final order requirement to be within the narrow procedural exception would indeed render section 34A-2-413(6)(b) “useless and of no material benefit.”
¶ 45 In other contexts as well, Utah appellate courts have refused to impose upon innocent litigants a statutory interpretation granting them a right, but at the same time render that right “meaningless or illusory.” For example, the Utah legislature has given parents the statutory right to representation by counsel at every stage of a custody termination proceeding, including the court-appointment of counsel for indigent parents. Utah Code Ann. § 78~3a-913(l)(a) (1999). The statute, however, does not expressly mandate that the counsel be “effective.” See id. The court of appeals reasoned that the statutory right must be construed in such a way as to ensure that the right granted is meaningful:
Although this section does not expressly state that counsel must be effective, the statute would be meaningless or illusory if it guaranteed only ineffective assistance of counsel. The legislature’s omission of “effective” should not be read to suggest an intent to provide only ineffective assistance of counsel.
State ex rel. E.H., 880 P.2d 11, 13 (Utah Ct.App.1994). We recently agreed with this reasoning. State ex rel. M.M., 2003 UT 54, ¶ 7. Just as the court of appeals in State ex rel. E.H. was unwilling to follow a statutory interpretation that would strip a right of substance and enforceability, so too I would decline to interpret section 34A-2-212 in a way that renders the right to subsistence payments “meaningless or illusory.”
¶ 46 Our rejection of statutory interpretations that render statutory rights “worthless and of no material benefit” or “meaningless or illusory” is consistent with the rule that we consider factors such as convenience, reasonableness, and justice in determining the procedural or substantive character of statutes. It is also consistent with the United States Supreme Court’s dictate that courts should use a “common sense, functional” approach to determine whether a law should be applied retroactively.
*1214¶ 47 The law contains strong general presumptions against retroactive application. While it is not always simple to determine whether a statutory amendment is procedural or substantive in nature, careful analysis of the amendment adding the “final order” requirement does show that it qualifies as a substantive change. If we were deciding whether the narrow procedural exception applies to Ms. Thomas, we would have to consider a host of factors, such as convenience, reasonableness, and justice. In future cases, furthermore, we should remember the United States Supreme Court’s admonishment that even if a rule of law seems aimed at procedure only, its effects can be so significant that retroactive application is improper. See Martin, 527 U.S. at 357-60, 119 S.Ct. 1998.
¶48 I would concede that if, following a statutory amendment, the party holding a right can still enforce that right in some meaningful, albeit different way, then retro-activity is acceptable. That is not what we confront with the change from section 35 — 1— 59 to section 34A-2-212. The statutory change in this case converts an enforceable right into an unenforceable one. Such an amendment is almost as substantive as an outright abolition of the right itself. If the issue of retroactive application were not moot, therefore, I would find that the final order requirement could not be applied to Ms. Thomas.

. Although the statutory amendment adding the "final order” requirement became effective on July 1, 1997 and the statute of limitations for workers' compensation cases is generally six years, see Utah Code Ann. § 34A-2-417(2) (2001), the Commission has continuing jurisdiction to reexamine claims that were initially brought within the six year statute of limitations. Id. § 34A-2-420; Ortega v. Meadow Valley Constr., 2000 UT 24, ¶ 9-11, 996 P.2d 1039.

. I note that the law at issue in Schooner Peggy was different from the "final order” statutory amendment in this case, because the Schooner Peggy law — a treaty — expressly stated that it was to be applied retroactively. See 5 U.S. (lCranch) at 108 (basing holding on fact that new treaty expressly applied to property that was not "defln-itively condemned” at the time the treaty was signed). This distinction does not diminish the importance of the principle that we should "struggle hard" against construing statutory amendments as retroactively applicable when those amendments affect litigants' substantive rights.

. Prior lo the amendment, section 63-30-13 read:
A claim against a political subdivision or against its employee for an act or omission occurring during the performance of his duties, within the scope of employment, or under color of authority, is barred unless notice of claim is filed with the governing body of the political subdivision within one year after the claim arises, or before the expiration of any extension of time granted under Subsection 63-30-11(4).
The only significant change that the amendment made was to add this phrase onto the end of the section: "regardless of whether or not the func-*1213lion giving rise to the claim is characterized as governmental.” 1987 Utah Laws ch. 75, § 6.