State ex rel. Beirne v. Smith
| Decision Date | 05 December 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 31537., No. 31534 |
| Citation | 591 S.E.2d 329,214 W.Va. 771 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of West Virginia ex rel. William R. BEIRNE, Petitioner v. Robert J. SMITH, Commissioner, West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs, Respondent. State of West Virginia ex rel. Delano Bradley, Petitioner v. Robert J. Smith, Commissioner, West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs, Respondent. |
Linda Garrett Dyer, Jared M. Tully, Linda Nelson Garrett, PLLC, Summersville, for William R. Beirne, Petitioner.
Thomas N. White, III, The Calwell Practice, PLLC, Charleston, for Delano Bradley, Petitioner.
Thomas J. Obrokta, Jr., Richard M. Crynock, Workers' Compensation Commission, Legal Services Division, Charleston, for Respondent.
I.
We have consolidated two cases in this opinion, because both petitioners have had their permanent total disability (sometimes abbreviated at "PTD") benefits terminated because of their age. Because these are original proceedings, we have only a limited record in each case and know little of the underlying events leading to each petitioner's injury.1
Delano E. Bradley has been injured in the course of his employment on several occasions. Prior to the events giving rise to this case he had received several permanent partial disability awards totaling 40 percent. Most recently, he filed a claim for permanent total disability with what was called at the time the Workers' Compensation Division.2 Mr. Bradley's claim was denied at the Division level, and he appealed to the Office of Judges. The Office of Judges reversed the Division and on January 25, 2002, granted Mr. Bradley a permanent total disability award with an "onset date" of September 19, 2000.
About five months later, on May 31, 2002, Mr. Bradley turned 65 years old. The Workers' Compensation Division notified Mr. Bradley that it was terminating his permanent total disability benefits effective June 30, 2002. Mr. Bradley avers that his lawyer contacted the Division and asked why the benefits were discontinued. Mr. Bradley claims that an employee of the Division stated that Mr. Bradley's benefits were discontinued because he had reached the age of 65, and that no written notification or explanation would be forthcoming. Mr. Bradley filed a Petition for Writ of Prohibition with this Court on July 23, 2002, and the Court issued a Rule to Show Cause on August 21, 2003.
In 1991, William R. Beirne filed a "black lung," or occupational pneumoconiosis, claim and received a permanent partial disability award of 60 percent, but continued to work until 1998—the same year that he reached age 65. In 1999, he filed another claim, and the Occupational Pneumoconiosis Board made two findings: first, that Mr. Beirne should receive an additional 40 percent permanent partial disability award, and second, that Mr. Beirne's injuries left him permanently and totally disabled. In spite of these findings, the Division sent Mr. Beirne a letter, dated January 10, 2000, stating that his injuries did make him eligible for a permanent total disability award, but because he had already reached the age of 65, the Division would not provide him with any regular cash payments.3 The letter, without the italics we now add, stated in part:
Accordingly it is hereby ORDERED that the claimant be granted a permanent total disability award without indemnity payments, with an onset date of November 5, 1998 ... pursuant to West Virginia Code § 23-4-6(d), which states, in part, that a claimant will not be paid benefits after he, "... attains the age necessary to receive federal old age retirement benefits under the provisions of the Social Security Act...."
It appears from the record that an award "without indemnity payments" means that Mr. Beirne is entitled to some medical benefits, but that he will not receive any cash payments from the Division for his injuries. Mr. Beirne filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus with this Court on October 2, 2002, and the Court agreed to hear his case on August 18, 2003. As noted above, we have joined his claim with Mr. Bradley's, and for the reasons set forth below, we deny both writs.
II.
Although Mr. Bradley brought his case as a petition for a writ of prohibition, while Mr. Beirne requested a writ of mandamus, we choose to treat each as a petition for a writ of mandamus, because both petitioners wish to compel the Commissioner to do an affirmative act, i.e., pay benefits. See, State ex rel. Ranger Fuel Corp. v. Lilly, 165 W.Va. 98, 100, 267 S.E.2d 435, 436 (1980); Carr v. Lambert, 179 W.Va. 277, 278 n. 1, 367 S.E.2d 225, 226 n. 1 (1988), holding modified on other grounds by State v. Macri, 199 W.Va. 696, 487 S.E.2d 891 (1996); State ex rel. Conley v. Hill, 199 W.Va. 686, 687 n. 1, 487 S.E.2d 344, 345 n. 1 (1997), overruled on other grounds by State v. Hulbert, 209 W.Va. 217, 544 S.E.2d 919 (2001); State ex rel. Sandy v. Johnson, 212 W.Va. 343, 346 n. 1, 571 S.E.2d 333, 336 n. 1 (2002).
This Court has explained that "[m]andamus is a proper remedy to require the performance of a nondiscretionary duty by various governmental agencies or bodies." Syl. pt. 1, State ex rel. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Union Public Service Dist., 151 W.Va. 207, 151 S.E.2d 102 (1966). A petitioner for a writ of mandamus must meet each element of our well-known three-part test:
A writ of mandamus will not issue unless three elements coexist—(1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the relief sought; (2) a legal duty on the part of respondent to do the thing which the petitioner seeks to compel; and (3) the absence of another adequate remedy.
Syl. pt 2, State ex rel. Kucera v. City of Wheeling, 153 W.Va. 538, 170 S.E.2d 367 (1969); syl. pt. 10, State ex rel. Marockie v. Wagoner, 191 W.Va. 458, 446 S.E.2d 680 (1994); syl. pt. 1, Hewitt v. State Dept. of Health and Human Resources, 212 W.Va. 698, 575 S.E.2d 308 (2002). Bearing this test in mind, we consider the arguments of the petitioners.
III.
At issue in this case is whether the Legislature violated the Equal Protection Clause of the West Virginia Constitution when it changed the law regarding permanent total disability with the following language:
(d) For all awards of permanent total disability benefits that are made on or after the second day of February, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, including those claims in which a request for an award was pending before the division or which were in litigation but not yet submitted for a decision4, then benefits shall be payable until the claimant attains the age necessary to receive federal old age retirement benefits under the provisions of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 401 and 402, in effect on the effective date of this section.
W. Va.Code § 23-4-6(d) (1995).5
As we have often stated, we begin any analysis of a workers' compensation case with a recognition of the remedial nature of the program: "The Workmen's Compensation Law is remedial in its nature, and must be given a liberal construction to accomplish the purpose intended." Syl. pt. 3, McVey v. Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., 103 W.Va. 519, 138 S.E. 97 (1927) (citation omitted); syl. pt. 1, Plummer v. Workers' Compensation Division, 209 W.Va. 710, 551 S.E.2d 46 (2001); syl. pt. 1, Repass v. Workers' Compensation Division, 212 W.Va. 86, 569 S.E.2d 162 (2002).6
However, at the same time we must acknowledge that our workers' compensation scheme is a creature of statute, created by and at the mercy of the Legislature:
The ultimate responsibility for the fiscal health of the West Virginia Workers' Compensation system rests with the Legislature. Balancing the conflicting goals of minimizing premiums while providing full and fair compensation to injured workers is the exclusive province of our publicly elected legislators, and is not to be invaded by the Commissioner, or the Courts.
Syl. pt. 3, Repass v. Workers' Compensation Division, 212 W.Va. 86, 569 S.E.2d 162 (2002).
The central issue in this case is whether or not the Legislature can decide to terminate workers' compensation benefits for permanently and totally disabled workers simply because they have reached age 65.7 It is our unfortunate conclusion that the Legislature has this authority. Although the result of the Legislature's decision to cut off benefits at age 65 will be to further impoverish some of our poorest citizens, it is within the prerogative of the Legislature to limit these benefits in its efforts to preserve the fund for future claims.
The briefs in this case reflect the current public debate about the huge deficits faced by the fund—a number which changes often, but always in an upward direction. However, it is important to remember that the purpose of the fund is not to offer low premiums in order to please business interests; the purpose of the fund is to compensate injured workers, many of whom have lost limbs, or been blinded, deafened, or paralyzed for the rest of their lives.
The Act is designed to compensate injured workers as speedily and expeditiously as possible in order that injured workers and those who depend upon them for support shall not be left destitute during a period of disability. The benefits of this system accrue both to the employer, who is relieved from common-law tort liability for negligently inflicted injuries, and to the employee, who is assured prompt payment of benefits.
Meadows v. Lewis, 172 W.Va. 457, 469, 307 S.E.2d 625, 638 (1983); Repass v. Workers' Compensation Division, 212 W.Va. 86, 92-93, 569 S.E.2d 162, 168-69 (2002). None should lose sight of the fact that this system benefits the employers as well as the injured employees.
Of late, the loudest voices decry the burden the system places upon business, and many intimate that workers' compensation is really some kind of confidence game foisted upon the...
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