Court Opinion

ID: 9645481
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:26:23.962947+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:28.734175
License: Public Domain

Allen, C.J.,
dissenting. I do not agree that the relevant statutes are ambiguous.
The statute creating dual liability permits recovery against some person other than employer. 21 V.S.A. § 624(a). The word “ ‘employer’ ” includes the insurer so far as applicable,” 21 V.S.A. § 601(3), “[u]nless the context otherwise requires.” 21 V.S.A. § 601. There is nothing in the context of § 624(a) or in the Workers’ Compensation Act which requires or even permits a construction contrary to the definition set forth in the statute. “[W]hen the statute’s meaning is plain on its face, [this Court] must enforce it in accordance with its express terms.” Montgomery v. Brinver Corp., 142 Vt. 461, 463, 457 A.2d 644, 645 (1983).
The words “so far as applicable” apply to those duties and prohibitions which extend only to the employer and do not apply to the insurance carrier. These include the obligation to secure compensation to employees in one of the enumerated ways, 21 V.S.A. § 687, the failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the commissioner of labor and industry or to pay compensation as required by law, 21 V.S.A. § 689, the failure to post notice of compliance with the provisions of the act, 21 V.S.A. § 691, or the requirement for the filing of a certificate of insurance, 21 V.S.A. § 690. The provisions of the act requiring payment of benefits also impose that obligation upon the “employer” only, 21 V.S.A. §§ 641-643, 645, but the obligation is imposed upon the insurance carrier as well by virtue of the definitional provision, because payment of benefits is the responsibility of both the carrier and the *416employer. 21 V.S.A. § 618. A construction which concludes that the word “employer” includes the insurer for purposes of payment, but excludes the insurer for purposes of immunity, defies reason and logic.
Further support for the proposition that the legislature intended the word “employer” to include the insurer for purposes of 21 V.S.A. § 624 is found in § 624(e), which provides that any amounts recovered from a third party in excess of the compensation paid or payable to the date of recovery shall be paid to the employee and be treated as an advance payment “by the employer on account of any future payment of compensation benefits.” If an insurer has paid the compensation benefits, the word “employer” must include the insurer for the purposes of this section, and therefore bears the same meaning throughout the remainder of 21 V.S.A. § 624. State v. Welch, 135 Vt. 316, 321, 376 A.2d 351, 354 (1977).
The exclusivity provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act specifically prohibits the plaintiff from exercising any other rights or remedies at common law or otherwise on account of his compensable injury. 21 V.S.A. § 622. An injured employee is permitted, however, to recover against “some person other than the employer” if the injury was caused under circumstances creating a legal liability in that person. 21 V.S.A. § 624 (emphasis added). The word “person” is not defined, but throughout the remainder of 21 V.S.A. § 624 the words “third party” are used in place of “person.” Under this statute, the employee, employer, or its insurance carrier may bring an action against the third party in the name of the employee, 21 V.S.A. § 624(a), and each may settle their claims “as their interests] [may] appear.” 21 V.S.A. § 624(b). If an employee who is insured settles for less than the compensation benefits which would have been payable in the future, the consent of the employer or the insurance carrier is required. 21 V.S.A. § 624(b). A settlement and release by the employee is not a bar to an action by the employer or its insurance carrier against the third party. 21 V.S.A. § 624(c). It is clear from the foregoing that the “person” or “third party” against whom a right of action was restored by the legislature in § 624 is a person or entity other than the insurance carrier. See Horne v. Security Mutual Casualty Co., 265 F. Supp. 379, 381 (E.D. Ark. 1967); Herbert v. Layman, 125 Vt. 481, 484, 218 A.2d 706, 708 (1966).
*417The majority opinion correctly notes that a leading commentator has opined that our statute has virtually disposed of the issue by express language, but nonetheless contradicts this conclusion by stating that two courts in jurisdictions with comparable statutes have concluded otherwise. The opinion from one of those courts is readily distinguished and the other supports the view here expressed.
In Beasley v. MacDonald Engineering Co., 287 Ala. 189, 195, 249 So. 2d 844, 848 (1971), the statutory definition of employer included the insurer “as far as applicable.” The court held that the employer and insurer were not to be equated in third-party actions. The holding, however, turned on the fact that the subrogation statute, which had originally given the right only to the employer, was later amended to specifically give the insurance carrier similar rights. The court concluded that if the legislature had intended the word “employer” to include “his insurer” for all purposes, there would have been no necessity to extend to the insurer subrogation rights which it already had under the definitional statute. By contrast, in Vermont, an insurance carrier having paid or having become obligated to pay compensation benefits has always been subrogated to the rights of the injured employee. Towne v. Rizzico, 113 Vt. 205, 209-11, 32 A.2d 129, 131-32 (1943); Belfore v. Vermont State Highway Department, 108 Vt. 396, 401-02, 187 A. 797, 798 (1936). The reasoning of Beasley, supra, does not apply.
In Sims v. American Casualty Co., 131 Ga. App. 461, 206 S.E.2d 121 (1974), the Court of Appeals of Georgia reaffirmed an earlier holding that a compensation carrier enjoys the employer’s immunity under an “employer” definition identical to ours. Far from concluding that the issue was “concluded otherwise,” the case is clear support for the views expressed in this dissent.
However desirable the conceptual-functional analysis adopted by the majority may be, it is intended to apply only to those states whose statutory language does not expressly identify the carrier with the employer. 2A A. Larson, The Law of Workmen’s Compensation § 72.97, at 14-301 (1983). As that commentator concluded, our statutes clearly identify the carrier with employer. This Court cannot by judicial action in the guise of interpretation achieve a particular result simply because it feels that the thrust of a statute is unjust or unfair. King v. Snide, 144 Vt. 395, 404, 479 A.2d 752, 756 (1984). Justice Peck joins in this dissent.
*418I would answer the question as modified in the negative.