State ex rel. Boan v. Richardson

• Decision Date: 13 December 1996
• Docket Number: No. 23667,23667
• Citation: 198 W.Va. 545,482 S.E.2d 162
• Parties: , 53 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 115 STATE of West Virginia ex rel. Latta BOAN, Petitioner, v. Andrew N. RICHARDSON, Workers' Compensation Commissioner, and Songer Construction Corporation, Respondents.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court

Page 162

482 S.E.2d 162

198 W.Va. 545, 53 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 115

STATE of West Virginia ex rel. Latta BOAN, Petitioner, v. Andrew N. RICHARDSON, Workers' Compensation Commissioner and Songer Construction Corporation, Respondents.

No. 23667.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted Oct. 29, 1996.

Decided Dec. 13, 1996.

[198 W.Va. 546] Syllabus by the Court

1. " ' " ' "Where economic rights are concerned, we look to see whether the classification is a rational one based on social, economic, historic or geographic factors, whether it bears a reasonable relationship to a proper governmental purpose, and whether all persons within the class are treated equally. Where such classification is rational and bears the requisite reasonable relationship, the statute does not violate Section 10 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution, which is our equal protection clause." Syllabus Point 7, [as modified,] Atchinson v. Erwin, W.Va. , 302 S.E.2d 78 (1983).'

                [198 W.Va. 547] Syllabus Point 4, as modified,  Hartsock-Flesher Candy Co. v. Wheeling Wholesale Grocery Co.,  W.Va.  , 328 S.E.2d 144 (1984)."   Syl. pt. 4, Gibson v. West Virginia Department of Highways, 185 W.Va. 214, 406 S.E.2d 440 (1991).'   Syllabus Point 2, Robinson v. Charleston Area Medical Center, 186 W.Va. 720, 414 S.E.2d 877 (1991)."   Syllabus point 2,  E.H. v. Matin, 189 W.Va. 102, 428 S.E.2d 523 (1993)
                

2. West Virginia Code § 23-4-23 (1994) violates Art. III, § 10 of the West Virginia State Constitution in that it fails to provide the equal protection of the Workers' Compensation Act to old age social security recipients who may have been, or may be, injured in their employment and are thereby permanently and totally disabled within the meaning of our Workers' Compensation Act. We conclude that the statute is defective in creating the classification of "old age social security recipient" and reducing benefits for those persons, that such classification, as here applied, bears no reasonable relationship to a proper governmental purpose of avoiding duplication of benefits, and that it results in all persons within the class of "old age social security recipients" not being treated equally.

M. Jane Glauser, Tracy Cook, Seibert & Kasserman, Wheeling, for petitioner.

Landon R. Brown, Xueyan Zhang, Employment Programs Litigation Unit, Charleston, for respondent, Andrew N. Richardson, Commissioner.

Mark Mascio, Washington, PA, for respondent, Songer Construction Corporation.

ALBRIGHT, Justice:

This is an original proceeding in prohibition ¹ seeking to prevent the enforcement of W.Va.Code § 23-4-23(b) by respondent Commissioner of the Division of Workers' Compensation, insofar as that section requires the reduction of permanent total disability benefits paid to petitioner, Latta Boan, under our Workers' Compensation Act, W.Va.Code § 23-4-1, et seq., by reason of the receipt by petitioner of old age insurance benefits under the provisions of the Federal Social Security Act found in 42 U.S.C. §§ 401 and 402 (1994). Petitioner asserts that W.Va.Code § 23-4-23(b) violates Art. III, § 10 of the West Virginia Constitution. We agree and issue the writ.

THE CONTROLLING ISSUE

The controlling issue presented to this Court by the case under consideration is whether a reduction of permanent total disability benefits under workers' compensation by one-half of the sum of old age social security insurance payable to a claimant results in unreasonable classification under the equal protection clause contained in Art. III, § 10 of our State Constitution.

Our standard for determining this issue is well-settled, as reflected by syllabus point 2 of E.H. v. Matin, 189 W.Va. 102, 428 S.E.2d 523 (1993), as follows:

" ' " 'Where economic rights are concerned, we look to see whether the classification is a rational one based on social, economic, historic or geographic factors, whether it bears a reasonable relationship to a proper governmental purpose, and whether all persons within the class are treated equally. Where such classification is rational and bears the requisite reasonable relationship, the statute does not violate Section 10 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution, which is our equal protection clause.' Syllabus Point 7, [as modified,] Atchinson v. Erwin, W.Va. , 302 S.E.2d 78 (1983)." Syllabus Point 4, as modified, Hartsock-Flesher Candy Co. v. Wheeling Wholesale Grocery Co., W.Va. , 328 S.E.2d 144 (1984).' Syl. pt. 4, Gibson v. West Virginia Department of Highways, 185 W.Va. 214, 406 S.E.2d 440 (1991)." Syllabus Point 2,Robinson v. Charleston Area Medical Center, 186 W.Va. 720, 414 S.E.2d 877 (1991).

In his brief, respondent ² asserts that the Legislature had two goals in enacting the offset provisions now under scrutiny, to help preserve the fiscal integrity of the Workers' Compensation Fund and to pursue a public policy goal against a claimant receiving duplication of benefits for the same loss.

We recognize that preserving the fiscal integrity of the Workers' Compensation Fund is a legitimate governmental concern and that the Legislature is accorded broad discretion in selecting the means of achieving that goal. Moreover, a decision by the Legislature to bolster the fiscal integrity of the fund by enacting reductions or limitations on benefits payable from the fund may be a reasonable means of addressing that concern when it is perceived that the fiscal integrity of the fund is suspect. We recently spoke to these issues in Blankenship v. Richardson, 196 W.Va. 726, 474 S.E.2d 906 (1996). There, we held that a limitation on permanent total disability eligibility contained in W.Va.Code § 23-4-6(n)(1) (1995) did not offend Article III, Section § 10 of the Constitution. We reiterated that "[t]he legislature's power will not be negated by this Court unless the legislative enactment violates constitutional guarantees." (citations omitted). Blankenship at 731, 474 S.E.2d at 911. In Part I of Blankenship, we also found that there has been substantial agreement that the fund has been in dire financial straits, dating by some accounts from about 1989. Id. at 729-31, 474 S.E.2d at 909-11. Accordingly, we are satisfied that W.Va.Code § 23-4-23 (1994) serves a legitimate governmental concern and is within the power of the Legislature if it does not otherwise offend a constitutional guarantee.

The second goal stated by counsel for respondent--pursuit of a public policy goal against claimant's receiving duplication of benefits for the same loss--sheds different light on the questions of whether the classification employed by W.Va.Code § 23-4-23 (1994) is a rational one and bears a reasonable relationship to a proper governmental purpose. Although we are not limited to the perceptions of respondent's counsel in considering the classification selected by the statute under consideration to serve proper legislative goals, we are mindful, as we indicated in Blankenship, that there has been broad public concern surrounding the administration of workers' compensation in the State. We are, therefore, desirous of according close attention to the views of respondent, as the chief executive officer of that agency, in the context of this case. Accordingly, we have examined with care the contention of respondent's counsel that the Legislature sought, by enacting the subject section, to avoid "the duplication of benefits for the same loss." In that exercise, we have also examined whether the statute can be sustained under the broader purpose of avoiding the duplication of benefits, period.

We cannot say that legislative goals of avoiding the duplication of benefits "for the same loss", or simply avoiding the duplication of benefits, are beyond the power of the Legislature. However, if the purpose of the legislation under discussion is to avoid the duplication of benefits, we must now examine whether the classification employed to achieve that goal is rational, based on social, economic, historic or geographic factors, and whether the classification bears a reasonable relationship to that goal. We perceive that the classification employed falls afoul of those tests in relation to the acknowledged proper governmental purpose asserted.

Permanent total disability awarded under workers' compensation is part of a comprehensive plan designed to rectify the results of an injury in the workplace. The payments to the claimants and other benefits are in lieu of such elements of damage in the common law tort system as lost wages, lost earning capacity, reimbursement of past and future medical expenses, past and present pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other factors. W.Va.Code §§ 23-2-6 and 23- 4-6 (1994 & Supp.1996); Belcher v. J.H. Fletcher & Co., 498 F.Supp. 629, 630 (S.D.W.Va.1980) ("[T]he right of the injured employee to workmen's compensation has been substituted in lieu of his cause of action against the negligent employer and this remedy of compensation is an exclusive remedy.") citing Makarenko v. Scott, 132 W.Va. 430, 55 S.E.2d 88 (1949), overruled on other grounds, Jones v. Laird Foundation, Inc., 156 W.Va. 479, 195 S.E.2d 821 (1973), and Thornton v. Charleston Area Medical Center, 158 W.Va. 504, 213 S.E.2d 102 (1975). The amount of permanent total disability benefits is determined under a statutory scheme that involves diverse factors, including the nature of the injury, the average wages of the claimant over a relatively short time, and the average wages earned in the State. See W.Va.Code § 23-4-6 (Supp.1996). Finally, we note that any wages earned by a claimant drawing permanent total disability shall be, with certain limitations, offset against permanent disability payments at a ratio of one dollar reduction in benefits to each two dollars so earned. W.Va.Code § 23-4-25 (Supp.1996).

Social security old age insurance benefits, on the other hand, are retirement benefits earned by continued employment in the work force and the...