L.E.L. Const. v. Goode

• Decision Date: 31 January 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92SC837,92SC837
• Citation: 867 P.2d 875
• Parties: L.E.L. CONSTRUCTION; Crested Butte South Metropolitan District; and Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority, Petitioners, v. Janet GOODE; Bettie Travis; the Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colorado; and Director, Division of Workers' Compensation, Respondents.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 875

867 P.2d 875

L.E.L. CONSTRUCTION; Crested Butte South Metropolitan District; and Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority, Petitioners, v. Janet GOODE; Bettie Travis; the Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colorado; and Director Division of Workers' Compensation, Respondents.

No. 92SC837.

Supreme Court of Colorado En Banc.

Jan. 31, 1994.

Paul Tochtrop, Michael J. Steiner, Denver, for petitioners.

Leventhal & Bogue, P.C., Bruce Kaye, Denver, for respondent Janet Goode.

Withers, Seidman & Rice, P.C., Gudrun Rice, Grand Junction, for respondent Bettie Travis.

Gale A. Norton, Atty. Gen., Timothy M. Tymkovich, Sol. Gen., Paul Farley, Deputy Atty. Gen., Mary Karen Maldonado, First Asst. Atty. Gen., John D. Baird, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for respondent Indus. Claim Appeals Office.

Justice ERICKSON delivered the Opinion of the Court.

We granted certiorari to review L.E.L. Construction v. Goode, 849 P.2d 876 (Colo.App.1992), which addressed two cases consolidated by the court of appeals. The court of appeals held that federal social security "mother's insurance benefits" are not "periodic death benefits" within the meaning of section 8-50-103, 3B C.R.S. (1986) (now codified with changes at section 8-42-114, 3B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.)), and therefore cannot be deducted from state workers' compensation death benefits. ¹ Because federal social security mother's insurance benefits can be offset against workers' compensation death benefits we reverse the court of appeals and remand with directions to return both cases to the Industrial Claim Appeals Office (ICAO) for further review consistent with this opinion.

I

Janet Goode (Goode) and Bettie Travis (Travis) are each the surviving, dependent spouses of workers who were fatally injured in the course and scope of their employment. Both spouses are entitled to receive workers' compensation death benefits. Goode and Travis are also entitled to receive "mother's insurance benefits" under the Social Security Act because they are widows who have dependent children. 42 U.S.C. § 402(g) (1988).

On January 4, 1991, an administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Division of Labor determined that social security mother's insurance benefits could not be offset against workers' compensation death benefits paid to Travis on account of the death of her husband. On May 2, 1991, in a separate case, an ALJ for the Division of Labor determined that the Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority (CCIA) was precluded from offsetting social security mother's insurance benefits against Goode's workers' compensation death benefits. The ALJ ordered the CCIA to recalculate the social security offset from the date of death and pay Goode those benefits which were improperly withheld with interest. The findings of the ALJs allowed Travis and Goode to receive two distinct benefits as a result of the deaths of their husbands.

The Industrial Claim Appeals Office (ICAO) affirmed the order of the ALJ regarding Goode's claim. Subsequently, the ICAO entered an identical order with regard to the offset issue on Travis' claim. L.E.L. Construction, Crested Butte South Metropolitan District, and the Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority (CCIA) appealed and the court of appeals consolidated the Goode and Travis cases because both cases raised the same issues. The court of appeals affirmed the ruling of the ICAO that Goode's and Travis' social security mothers' insurance benefits could not be offset against their workers' compensation benefits.

II

In 1975, the Colorado Workers' Compensation Act was amended by the addition of the following language to section 8-50-103, 3B C.R.S. (1986) (now codified with changes at section 8-42-114, 3B C.R.S. (1992 Supp.)):

In cases where it is determined that periodic death benefits granted by the federal old age, survivors, and disability insurance act are payable to an individual and his dependents, the aggregate benefits payable for death pursuant to this section shall be reduced, but not below zero, by an amount equal to one hundred percent of such federal periodic benefits.

Ch. 71, sec. 19, § 8-50-103, 1975 Colo.Sess.Laws 291, 299.

Goode and Travis assert that the General Assembly's use of the phrase "periodic death benefits" indicates its intent not to offset mother's social security benefits. The term "periodic death benefit" is not defined by the Social Security Act or by the Colorado Workers' Compensation Act. Although the term "periodic death benefits" is not defined, a review of the plain language of section 8-50-103, the legislative history of the amendment, and the relevant case law demonstrates the General Assembly intended to offset mother's social security insurance benefits.

A

Our primary task in construing a statute is to discern the intent of the General Assembly. See, e.g., Safeway Stores, Inc. v. Smith, 658 P.2d 255, 259 (Colo.1983). To ascertain intent, words and phrases should be given effect according to their plain and obvious meaning. § 2-4-101, 1B C.R.S. (1980); see also People v. District Court, 713 P.2d 918, 921 (Colo.1986). In amending section 8-50-103, the General Assembly used the phrase "federal old age, survivors, and disability insurance act." This phrase is a specific reference to Subchapter II of the Social Security Act. ² The General Assembly's use of the phrase that encompasses all survivors' benefits indicates that the General Assembly intended workers' compensation death benefits to be offset by all survivors' benefits paid to a family.

Goode and Travis assert that the General Assembly's use of the term "periodic death benefits" indicates that it did not intend to offset mother's insurance benefits. The plain language of the statute does not support their contention. Had the General Assembly intended to exclude any of the survivors' benefits from the effect of the offset, it would have so indicated.

B

The legislative history of section 8-50-103 also demonstrates the intent of the General Assembly to offset mother's social security benefits. When a statute is susceptible to more than one interpretation, the statute must be construed to give effect to the legislative intent and purpose underlying the enactment. § 2-4-203, 1B C.R.S. (1980); U.M. v. District Court, 631 P.2d 165, 167 (Colo.1981). The purposes of the Colorado Workers' Compensation Act are to protect employees who suffer injuries arising out of their employment and to give injured workers a reliable source of compensation. Engelbrecht v. Hartford Accident & Indem. Co., 680 P.2d 231, 233 (Colo.1984). The legislative history indicates that the General Assembly amended section 8-50-103 and mandated the offset of federal social security survivorship benefits in order to further these purposes.

Prior to September 1, 1975, the Colorado Workers' Compensation Act provided death benefits to dependents for a period of only six years, after which benefits ceased. § 8-50-103, 3 C.R.S. (1973). At that time, there was an offset for social security benefits in disability cases but there was no offset in death cases. § 8-51-101(1)(c), 3 C.R.S. (1973). In 1975, the General Assembly adopted the recommendation of the National Commission on Workmen's Compensation Laws (National Commission) and amended section 8-50-103 to extend workers' compensation coverage. As part of the extension of coverage, the General Assembly also adopted the National Commission's recommendation of a one-hundred percent social security death benefit offset. ³

In 1969, the United States Congress enacted the "Williams-Steiger" Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). OSHA created the National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws to provide for a study of the states' workers' compensation laws. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Pub.L. No. 91-596, 84 Stat. 1590, 1616-1618 (1970). OSHA specifically charged the National Commission with determining "the relationship between workmen's compensation on the one hand, and old-age, disability, and survivors insurance ... on the other hand." Id. at 1617. The National Commission was directed to make recommendations to the President to allow for reform of the states' workers' compensation laws or, alternatively, to recommend federalization of workers' compensation. Id. Following extensive hearings, the National Commission issued a report to the President which discussed nineteen essential provisions crucial to a state's workers' compensation system.

One of the essential requirements discussed by the National Commission was lifetime benefits to a widow or widower whose spouse had died in the course and scope of employment as well as minimum weekly benefits. The National Commission also recommended a corresponding one-hundred percent offset for social security "death benefits" to compensate for the increased cost which could be incurred by a state if it provided lifetime and minimum weekly benefits. The National Commission specifically recommended that "workmen's compensation death benefits be reduced by the amount of any payments received from Social Security by the deceased worker's family. " The Report of the National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws 73 (1972) (emphasis added).

In its report, the commission explained its reasons for recommending a one-hundred percent offset:

Our recommendation for death benefits would substantially increase payments in many States. Such increased benefits should be coordinated with those of other programs. It is sometimes argued that workmen's compensation death benefits are not more substantial because many families qualify for benefits under the Social Security program. However, there are serious flaws in this reasoning. Families do not qualify for Social Security benefits unless the worker had sufficient quarters of covered employment. Moreover, Social Security benefits are paid only if the surviving spouse has dependent children in her care or if the spouse is at...