Bowman v. Sunoco, Inc.

• Citation: 65 A.3d 901
• Parties: Sabrina BOWMAN, Appellant v. SUNOCO, INC., Appellee.
• Decision Date: 25 April 2013
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

65 A.3d 901

Sabrina BOWMAN, Appellant

v.SUNOCO, INC., Appellee.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued March 6, 2012.

Decided April 25, 2013.

Frances M. Minnis, Oxman, Goodstadt & Kuritz, P.C., Philadelphia, for Sabrina Bowman.

Henry Falkner Reichner, Reed Smith LLP, Philadelphia, for Sunoco, Inc.

Before: CASTILLE, C.J., SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER, TODD, McCAFFERY, ORIE MELVIN, JJ.

OPINION

Justice EAKIN.

Sabrina Bowman appeals from the Superior Court's order affirming the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, which granted Sunoco's motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed appellant's negligence claim. We affirm.

Appellant was employed as a private security guard with Allied Barton Security Services. In exchange for employment, she signed a Workers' Compensation Disclaimer whereby she waived her right to sue Allied's clients for damages related to injuries covered under the Workers' Compensation Act.¹77 P.S. § 1 et seq. Appellant was later injured when she fell on snow or ice while providing security at one of appellee's refineries; she filed a workers' compensation claim and received benefits.² Thereafter, appellant filed a negligence claim against appellee, alleging its failure to maintain safe conditions caused her injury. After discovery revealed the disclaimer and appellant's receipt of benefits, appellee filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, stating appellant's claim was barred by the disclaimer.

Appellant argued the disclaimer was void as against public policy; specifically, she argued the disclaimer violated the public policy considerations in § 204(a) of the Workers' Compensation Act. She also asserted the disclaimer improperly waived a cause of action not yet accrued. Section 204(a) provides: “No agreement, composition, or release of damages made before the date of any injury shall be valid or shall bar a claim for damages resulting therefrom; and any such agreement is declaredto be against the public policy of this Commonwealth.” 77 P.S. § 71(a). The trial court found the disclaimer did not violate the public policy articulated in § 204(a), and granted appellee's motion.

The Superior Court affirmed, agreeing the disclaimer did not violate public policy. Bowman v. Sunoco, Inc., 986 A.2d 883 (Pa.Super.2009). The court reasoned appellant waived only her right to sue third-party customers for injuries covered by workers' compensation; the release did not attempt to deprive appellant of her rights under the Act, nor was it an attempt to shield Allied from liability or deprive appellant of compensation for work-related harm. Id., at 887.

The Superior Court found no statutory or case law supporting the application of § 204(a) to third-party customers, and reasoned that third-party releases do not divest employees of workers' compensation rights, as do employer releases. Id., at 887–88. The Superior Court noted other jurisdictions have rejected similar arguments, finding no violation of public policy for releasing claims against customers of employers for injuries covered by workers' compensation laws. Id., at 887. The court also found no merit to appellant's argument that a third-party release contravenes an employer's right to subrogation under § 319 of the Act, 77 P.S. § 671, because an employer may choose to waive that right. Bowman, at 888 (citing Kidd–Parker v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Philadelphia School District), 907 A.2d 33, 37 (Pa.Cmwlth.2006)). Accordingly, the court concluded the third-party release did not undermine public policy considerations in § 204(a) of the Act. Id.

We granted allowance of appeal to determine:

Did the Superior Court, in a decision of first impression and of statewide substantial significance, disregard the public policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the plain meaning of the [Pennsylvania Workers'] Compensation Act when it decided that a third party release in the form of a “Worker's Comp Disclaimer” signed in consideration for employment and receipt of compensation benefits, which further required the waiver and eternal release any [sic] and all rights to make a claim, commence a lawsuit, or recover damages or losses is not void against public policy when the language of the disclaimer openly conflicts with the language of section 204(a) of the Pennsylvania Workers ['] Compensation Act which expressly renders such agreements as void against public policy?

Bowman v. Sunoco, Inc., 610 Pa. 7, 17 A.3d 920–21 (2011) ( per curiam ).

Our review of the Commonwealth Court's decision granting the [appellee's] motion for judgment on the pleadings is limited to whether the court committed an error of law or whether unresolved questions of material fact remained. In reviewing a grant of judgment on the pleadings[,] this Court regards all of the non-moving party's well-pleaded allegations as true, and may consider against that party only those allegations that it has admitted. Since the Commonwealth Court's decision embodies conclusions of law, our scope of review is plenary.

Pennsylvania Department of Banking v. NCAS of Delaware, LLC, 596 Pa. 638, 948 A.2d 752, 759 (2008) (internal citations omitted).

Stripped of its verbosity, appellant's argument is that the disclaimer she signed as a condition of her employment violates the plain language of the first sentence of § 204(a) of the Workers' Compensation Act; that section provides:

(a) No agreement, composition, or release of damages made before the date of any injury shall be valid or shall bar a claim for damages resulting therefrom; and any such agreement is declared to be against the public policy of this Commonwealth. The receipt of benefits from any association, society, or fund shall not bar the recovery of damages by action at law, nor the recovery of compensation under article three hereof; and any release executed in consideration of such benefits shall be void: Provided, however, That if the employee receives unemployment compensation benefits, such amount or amounts so received shall be credited against the amount of the award made under the provisions of sections 108 and 306, except for benefits payable under section 306(c) or 307. Fifty per centum of the benefits commonly characterized as “old age” benefits under the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.) shall also be credited against the amount of the payments made under sections 108 and 306, except for benefits payable under section 306(c): Provided, however, That the Social Security offset shall not apply if old age Social Security benefits were received prior to the compensable injury. The severance benefits paid by the employer directly liable for the payment of compensation and the benefits from a pension plan to the extent funded by the employer directly liable for the payment of compensation which are received by an employee shall also be credited against the amount of the award made under sections 108 and 306, except for benefits payable under section 306(c). The employer shall provide the insurer with proper authorization to secure the amount which the employee is receiving under the Social Security Act.

77 P.S. § 71(a) (footnotes omitted; emphasis added). Appellant asserts the first sentence of § 204(a) is plain and unambiguous, and when the statutory language is clear and free from all ambiguity, a court must apply the letter of the statute and not pursue its spirit through principles of statutory construction. See1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(b). Therefore, she claims, we must invalidate the disclaimer she signed. Appellant contends the Superior Court impermissibly added language to the section by interpreting this section not to invalidate waivers of causes of action against third parties. Appellant also asserts the disclaimer contravenes the subrogation clause of § 319,³ reasoning it is absurd for an employer to forego an opportunity to recoup expenses spent on an injured worker, and insisting Allied's argument clashes with the Act's economic public policy.

Appellee responds that § 204(a) applies only to an employer's attempts to limit its own liability; it does not apply to releases concerning third parties. Appellee notes courts have recognized § 204(a) only prohibits an agreement to hold the employer harmless for any future injury. See, e.g., Inman v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, 433 Pa.Super. 534, 641 A.2d 329, 331 (1994) (“Section [204(a) ] prohibits, as against public policy, an employer from agreeing with his employee to hold employer harmless for any future injury the employee may suffer.”) (emphasis changed). As appellant was fully compensated for injuries covered by the Act, unaffectedby the disclaimer, appellee maintains the public policy behind the Act was not impugned. Appellee points out appellant never argued the disclaimer was a contract of adhesion, the result of mistake, duress, or fraud, was ambiguous, or lacked consideration.

As appellant presents a plain language argument, the initial duty of this Court is to determine whether the relevant language of § 204(a) is ambiguous. See1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(b). Words of a statute are ambiguous when there are at least two reasonable interpretations of the text under review. Delaware County v. First Union Corporation, 605 Pa. 547, 992 A.2d 112, 118 (2010); Barasch v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 516 Pa. 142, 532 A.2d 325, 332 (1987). If we determine the statute is unambiguous, we must apply it directly as written. See1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(b). However, if we deem the statutory language ambiguous, we must then ascertain the General Assembly's intent by statutory analysis, wherein we may consider numerous relevant factors. See1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(c). In determining legislative intent, the language of every section of a statute must be read in conjunction and construed with reference to the entire statute. E.D.B. v. Clair, 605 Pa. 73, 987 A.2d 681, 684 (2009). Further, we may consider the language of the Act within its historic...