Court Opinion

ID: 9754446
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 20:00:44.034741+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:53.499687
License: Public Domain

*584Concurring Opinion by
Judge Barry:
I concur in the opinion in this case but feel I must register my objection to the statement in footnote number 3 to the following effect: “We note that no proofs are required but that subrogation by the insurer or self-insurer is automatic. Swink v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Burrell Const. & Supply), 97 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 623, [510 A.2d 860 (1986)]”. Swink in my judgment raised a problem which is not involved in the present case; i.e., whether an employer who may be negligent is still entitled absolutely to subrogation out. of a fund created by a recovery against a third party defendant. In Tsarnas v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, 488 Pa. 513, 412 A.2d, 1094 (1980), Justice Larsen concurred that an employer could not be joined as an additional defendant in a lawsuit filed by an' employee, but nevertheless warned that the employers right to subrogation was not automatic and that the employer must in some judicial proceeding éstablish his freedom from fault in order to be subrogated. In the case of Heckendorn v. Consolidated Rail Corporation, 502 Pa. 101, 465 A.2d 609 (1983), the joinder by a third party for the purpose of apportioning an employers negligence with the negligence of the third party was again prohibited. In a concurring opinion Justice Larsen again pointed out that subrogation rights are always subject to equitable principles, that the right to subrogation is not automatic and some judicial proceedings must be had in order for the employers lack or degree of fault to be established.
I believe that if an émployer caused, or partially caused, an accident it should pay the price for its freedom from common-law suits. Judge MacPhail, in his opinion in Swink, found Heckendorn to be persuasive to the contrary. Nevertheless, Justice Roberts observation that an employers statutory right to subrogation in a *585third party claim may not be challenged by an allegation of employer negligence is certainly dicta. I would hope that the Supreme Court would be persuaded to adopt the viewpoint of Justice Larsen on this issue. Since any reference in this case to Swink is also in the nature of dicta, I therefore object to its being cited as an authority under the facts of . this case.