Wells v. Jefferson County

Decision Date20 February 1953
Citation255 S.W.2d 462
PartiesWELLS et al. v. JEFFERSON COUNTY et al.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

John L. Knopf, Louisville, for appellants.

Lawrence G. Duncan, Ray H. Kirchdorfer and Robert E. Hogan, Louisville, J. D. Buckman, Jr., Atty. Gen., and Squire N. Williams, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

CULLEN, Commissioner.

This appeal raises the question of constitutionality of a 1952 amendment to the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act. In a declaratory judgment proceeding between certain employes and their employers, the circuit court held the amendment valid. The appeal is by the employes.

By Chapter 82 of the Acts of 1952, the legislature amended KRS 342.395, relating to acceptance of the Compensation Act by employes. Prior to 1952, and dating back to the time of the enactment of the present Act in 1916, the Compensation Act had provided that an employe must indicate his elections to accept the Act by signing a written notice of acceptance. The 1952 amendment provides, in substance, that an employe is deemed to have accepted the Act unless and until he files with his employer a written notice of rejection.

Under the terms of the Compensation Act, both before and after the 1952 amendment, an employe who accepts the Act is barred of the right to sue his employer for damages for personal injuries, guaranteed by Section 54 of the Constitution, and his personal representative is barred of the right to sue the employer for damages for wrongful death, guaranteed by Section 241 of the Constitution, with certain exceptions not important to this case. It was established by the decision in Greene v. Caldwell, 170 Ky. 571, 186 S.W. 648, that the rights guaranteed by Sections 54 and 241 of the Constitution could be waived by an employe if he made a voluntary, affirmative election to accept the benefits of the Workmen's Compensation Act in lieu of the constitutional rights. The question now before us is whether a waiver of the constitutional rights may be effected by means of the failure of the employe to elect affirmatively to retain those rights.

The first workmen's compensation law enacted in Kentucky, in 1914, which contained a provision concerning acceptance of the Act by employes similar to that in the 1952 amendment to the present law, was held unconstitutional, by a divided court, in Kentucky State Journal Co. v. Workmen's Compensation Board, 161 Ky. 562, 170 S.W. 437, 1166, L.R.A.1916A, 389. The original majority opinion was susceptible to the interpretation that the Act was unconstitutional both as to employers and employes, because it did not give either of them a free, fair choice whether to come under the Act or to retain their common-law rights. However, in a modification of the opinion on rehearing, published in 162 Ky. 387, 172 S.W. 674, L.R.A.1916A, 402, the court made clear that the Act was valid as to employers, and also would have been valid as to employes if it had provided for voluntary acceptance of the Act by employes. The modified opinion contained this statement:

'Some provision should be made in the act whereby the employe signifies his acceptance of the provisions of the act by some affirmative act on his part. Silence on this subject should not be construed into acceptance.'

This Court, as presently constituted, is of the opinion that the requirement of an affirmative act of election to accept the Compensation Act, as laid down in the modified opinion in the State Journal case, has no sound basis in reason or logic, and that the opportunity of the employe to reject the Act by affirmative action on his part assures him adequate freedom of choice as to whether he will accept or reject the Act.

In those states in which compulsory workmen's compensation laws are not permissible under the state constitution, it has been held...

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15 cases
  • Fann v. McGuffey
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky
    • June 27, 1975
    ...consent of the persons whose rights were affected, and we do not say here that they could validly have done so. In Wells v. Jefferson County, Ky., 255 S.W.2d 462 (1953), this court held valid, against the contention that it violated Sec. 54, an amendment of our Workmen's Compensation Act 42......
  • Rehm v. Navistar International, No. 2002-CA-001399-MR (KY 2/25/2005)
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky
    • February 25, 2005
    ...employee is deemed to have accepted the Act unless and until he files with his employer a written notice of rejection. Wells v. Jefferson County, 255 S.W.2d 462 (Ky. 1953). There is no allegation by the appellants that James ever filed a written notice of rejection of coverage under the Act......
  • Shamrock Coal Co., Inc. v. Maricle
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky
    • November 18, 1999
    ...specifically upheld the constitutionality of the presumptive acceptance provision of the Workers' Compensation Act in Wells v. Jefferson County, Ky., 255 S.W.2d 462 (1953). See also, Mullins v. Manning Coal Corporation, Ky., 938 S.W.2d 260 (1997), cert. denied, 521 U.S. 1119, 117 S.Ct. 2511......
  • Edwards v. Louisville Ladder
    • United States
    • Kentucky Court of Appeals
    • October 10, 1997
    ...foundation for declaring workers' compensation constitutional in Kentucky is built on recognition of this principle. Wells v. Jefferson Co., Ky., 255 S.W.2d 462 (1953). In Wells, we recognized a "presumed acceptance" as a waiver of the worker's constitutional rights, but we did not abolish ......
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