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Goldie Edwards v. Travelers Ins. Co.
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MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT					Reporter of Decisions
Decision:	2001 ME 148
Docket:	WCB-00-298	
Argued:	September 10, 2001
Decided:	October 26, 2001



Panel:WATHEN, C.J.,{*} and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, SAUFLEY, ALEXANDER, and
CALKINS, JJ.

									

GOLDIE EDWARDS

v.

TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY

ALEXANDER, J.

	[¶1]  Travelers Insurance Co., a workers' compensation insurer for
Crest Shoe Co., appeals from a decision of a hearing officer of the Workers'
Compensation Board awarding Goldie Edwards total incapacity benefits, but
permitting an offset of $7.48 per week, as a result of Edwards's lump sum
settlement with another insurer for a subsequent injury.  Travelers contends
that it is entitled to continue paying 50% partial incapacity benefits pursuant
to an arbitrator's apportionment decision.  We vacate the hearing officer's
decision and remand for determination of the appropriate level of benefits. 

I.  CASE HISTORY

	[¶2]  Goldie Edwards worked for Crest Shoe Co. in Lewiston from
1986 until Crest Shoe ceased operations in April 1992.  In August 1991,
Edwards reported a repetitive motion injury to her left wrist and arm
caused by her job cutting heels.  After a brief absence from work following
the August injury report, Edwards returned to Crest Shoe, working in a light
duty position and receiving partial compensation benefits until Crest Shoe
ceased operations in April 1992.   While employed at Crest Shoe, Edwards's
average weekly wage, not contested in these proceedings, was $291.64.  In
September 1992, Edwards signed a voluntary discontinuance of benefits for
the reason that she had resumed work. 
	[¶3]  Edwards then worked in several different jobs not related to this
action.  In March 1993, Edwards began employment in an inspection and
stitching position with American Pride in Lewiston, which is insured for
workers' compensation purposes by Maine Employers Mutual Insurance
Company (MEMIC).  At American Pride, Edwards reported a repetitive
motion injury to her right wrist in January 1994.  Prior to this report of
injury, Edwards's average weekly wage at American Pride was $228.50, also
not contested in these proceedings.
	[¶4]  After her injury report, Edwards ceased working and MEMIC
voluntarily commenced payment of total incapacity benefits.  Edwards then
filed a petition for restoration of benefits from Crest Shoe/Travelers, and
MEMIC sought apportionment against Travelers for contribution to MEMIC's
total incapacity payments.  Apportionment was requested through
arbitration as authorized by 39-A M.R.S.A. § 354 (Supp. 1998), amended by
P.L. 1999, ch. 354, § 9.  
	[¶5]  Pursuant to the then applicable apportionment statute, 39-A
M.R.S.A. § 354 (Supp. 1998), amended by P.L. 1999, ch. 354, § 9, the
arbitrator's decision was limited to a choice between the submissions of the
parties.{1}  The arbitrator adopted the 50/50 apportionment urged by
Edwards and MEMIC, rejecting the 40/60 apportionment urged by
Travelers.  Following the arbitration decision, Travelers assumed
responsibility to reimburse MEMIC for 50% of the incapacity benefits paid
to Edwards beginning January 13, 1994.  
	[¶6]  On April 7, 1998, Edwards and MEMIC agreed to, and a hearing
officer approved, a lump sum settlement of $95,000 for Edwards's injury
described as: "tendonitis-left upper extremity."{2}  The settlement agreement
also provided that: "Travelers will continue to pay based on current rate
pending alteration by decree or rule . . . ."  The $95,000 settlement was
allocated as follows:

	(1) 	$54,000 for medical, psychiatric, and physical therapy expenses
		based on an estimated expense of $1,200 per year, for an
		estimated life expectancy of 45 years;{3} 
	(2) 	$15,000 for vocational rehabilitation, although Edwards's
		position was that vocational rehabilitation services would be of
		no use;
	(3)	$17,512.26 for wage replacement incapacity benefits which,
		according to the agreement, were based on projected payments
		of only $32.43 per month for Edwards's life expectancy of 45
		years; and
	(4) 	$8,487.74 for attorney fees and costs.

	[¶7]  Counsel for Travelers contends that she participated in the
settlement discussion by telephone and that she agreed that Travelers would
continue payment of 50% benefits.  However, Travelers contends that it did
not consent to the minimal amount attributed to future incapacity payments.
	[¶8]  In the fall of 1998, Edwards petitioned for restoration, payment
of psychological counseling expenses, and to determine the extent of
permanent impairment against Travelers.  After hearings, the hearing officer
of the Workers' Compensation Board issued a decision that:

	(1)	granted Edwards's petition for restoration and awarded
	continuing benefits for total incapacity and permanent
	impairment.  See 39 M.R.S.A. § 54-B (Supp. 1991), repealed and
	replaced by P.L. 1991, ch. 885, §§ A-7, A-8 (codified at 39-A M.R.S.A.
	§ 214 (2001)); 39 M.R.S.A. § 56-B (Supp. 1991), repealed by P.L.
	1991, ch. 885, § A-7;
	(2)	determined that Travelers was responsible for medical payments
	for psychological counseling and other treatments (mostly
	psychological counseling) received since the settlement with MEMIC
	"to the extent permitted by the Board's fee schedule."  The hearing
	officer's decision gave no consideration to any set-off from the
	$54,000 for future medical-related expenses which Edwards had
	received in April 1998; and
	(3)	required Travelers to pay total incapacity benefits based on
	Edwards's average weekly wage of $291.64, with a set-off of only $7.48
	per week based on the 1998 lump sum settlement.  In reaching this
	result, the hearing officer rejected Travelers's position that it should
	be responsible for only 50% of total incapacity benefits based on the
	1995 arbitration order.  In doing so, the hearing officer concluded
	that, as a result of the settlement, Travelers remained the only
	"responsible" party to pay for incapacity benefits and, thus, was
	obligated to pay 100% of the benefit requirement, subject to the small
	set-off amount.{4}

	[¶9]  At Travelers's request, the hearing officer then made further
findings which did not alter the decision.  Travelers then filed a timely
petition for appellate review which we granted pursuant to 39-A M.R.S.A.
§ 322 (2001).

II.  DISCUSSION

	[¶10]  We have long disfavored interpretations of the Workers'
Compensation Act which result in duplicate recoveries of benefits for
particular injuries.  See LaPointe v. United Eng'rs & Constructors, 680 A.2d
458, 460-61 (Me. 1996); Webber v. Bath Iron Works Corp., 656 A.2d 748,
749 (Me. 1995); Parker v. Bath Iron Works Corp., 644 A.2d 1037, 1039-40
(Me. 1994); Bouford v. Bath Iron Works Corp., 514 A.2d 470, 474 (Me.
1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1065 (1987); Stockford v. Bath Iron Works
Corp., 482 A.2d 843, 845 (Me. 1984); Bourque v. Frank X. Pomerleau, Inc.,
472 A.2d 933, 936 (Me. 1984).
	[¶11]  In this case, the potential for duplicate recoveries results from
the hearing officer's erroneous determination that the lump sum settlement
left Travelers as the only "responsible party" for Edwards's injuries.  While
agreeing that Travelers is entitled to an offset to prevent a double recovery,
Edwards contends that the hearing officer correctly limited Travelers's
offset to the minimal amount allocated to lost wages in the settlement.  
	[¶12]  Edwards relies primarily on Kennedy v. Brunswick Convalescent
Ctr., 584 A.2d 678, 680-81 (Me. 1991).  In Kennedy, the employee suffered
two work-related injuries while her employer was insured by two different
insurers.  Id. at 679.  The second insurer paid benefits to the employee and
subsequently filed a petition for apportionment against the previous insurer. 
Id.  On the eve of a decision on the petition for apportionment, the
employee settled her claims separately with both insurers.  Id. at 679-80. 
The hearing commissioner subsequently granted the petition for
apportionment and ordered the first insurer to reimburse the second
insurer for 70% of benefits previously paid to the employee.  Id. at 680.  We
vacated the Commissioner's decision, stating that, because an employer's
right to an apportionment is limited to subrogation, and because the
employee's rights against the first insurer were extinguished by the
settlement, the subsequent insurer had no right of apportionment against
the previous insurer.  Id. at 680-81.{5}
	[¶13]  As we have stated, the legislative policy of apportionment and
subrogation is: (1) to reduce the benefit obligation of the employer; (2) to
prevent a double recovery of benefits; (3) to encourage the prompt payment
of benefits by the promise of a later recovery against a second insurer; and
(4) to ensure that the employee receives the appropriate level of
compensation from some source.  See Robbins v. Bates Fabrics, Inc., 412
A.2d 374, 378-79 (Me. 1980).  
	[¶14]  In Kennedy, the employee settled with both insurers
simultaneously and had already received all the benefits she was entitled to
receive.  Kennedy, 584 A.2d at 680-81.  In Kennedy, therefore, unlike the
present case, there was no danger of a double recovery.  
	[¶15]  The present case is more analogous to Bourque, 472 A.2d at
936.  In Bourque, the employee suffered two injuries while employed by the
same employer: a back-injury while working as a laborer in 1974 and an
anxiety-related injury working as a dispatcher in 1978.  Id. at 934-35.  The
employee lump-sum settled the subsequent injury and then filed a petition
for further compensation related to the first injury.  Id.  The former
Workers' Compensation Commission denied the employee's petition,
concluding that the settlement precluded recovery for the 1974 back-injury. 
Id. at 935.  
	[¶16]  Agreeing that the employee was not entitled to a double
recovery, we vacated the Commissioner's decision, stating, in part, that the
employee's claim for the 1974 injury only "remain[s] valid to the extent it
exceeds the potential claims commuted [sic] by the lump sum settlement of
the 1977 anxiety-related injury."  Id. at 936 (emphasis in original).  In
effect, we determined that the nonsettling insurer was only responsible for
that portion of the incapacity claim which exceeded the claims resolved by
the lump sum settlement of the anxiety-related injury, thus preventing the
employee from receiving a double recovery.  
	[¶17]  Pursuant to the hearing officer's decision in this case, Travelers
is allocated responsibility for 100% of future medical payments and roughly
95% of incapacity compensation payments.{6}  Thus, the effect of the hearing
officer's decision is to dramatically alter the prior arbitration decision to the
prejudice of Travelers. 
	[¶18]  The remaining question is whether the parties are bound by the
50/50 apportionment determined by the arbitrator.  We have stated that an
arbitration decision pursuant to former section 354 between two or more
insurers, and not involving the employee, cannot affect an employee's
entitlement to benefits.   See Maine Ins. Guar. Assoc. v. Folsom, 2001 ME
63, ¶ 13, 769 A.2d 185, 191.  Here, Edwards actively participated in and
testified at the arbitration hearing, the hearing was conducted at the
employee's attorney's office, and Edwards asserted the 50/50
apportionment of responsibility for compensation payments that the
arbitrator ordered.  Moreover, the lump sum settlement order itself
recognized that Travelers would continue paying 50% of the benefits
pursuant to the arbitration agreement.  We conclude that this level of
participation in the arbitration, and the acknowledgment in the settlement
documents recognizing Travelers's continuing 50% liability, precludes the
employee from asserting that she should not be bound by the 50/50
apportionment determined by the arbitrator.                                                                                                     
	[¶19]  Under these facts, we conclude that the unilateral lump sum
settlement agreement between the employee and MEMIC could not alter
the apportionment order resulting from a proceeding in which the
employee had actively participated.  With such a settlement, the settling
employee accepts the apportionment order as the basis for the nonsettling
insurer's future responsibility for her injuries.{7}
	[¶20]  There is no dispute that Edwards's average weekly wage for
purposes of continuing benefits is $291.64.  Pursuant to the arbitration
order and the settlement agreement, Travelers is responsible for a 50%
share of benefit payments, which should be calculated based upon the
$291.64 average weekly wage.  Travelers should also remain responsible for
50% of medical payments attributable to the injuries related to Edwards's
work at Crest Shoe or American Pride.
	The entry is:

Decision of the hearing officer vacated.  Remanded
to the hearing officer to determine Travelers's
responsibility for incapacity payments based upon
50% of the employee's $291.64 average weekly wage
and medical payments for medical and related
services attributable to the injuries at Crest Shoe or
American Pride consistent with this opinion.

Attorney for employee:

Charles E. March, Esq. (orally)
Reben, Benjamin and March
P O Box 7060
Portland, ME 04112

Attorneys for employer:

James E. Fortin, Esq. (orally)
Deborah Buccina, Esq.
Douglas, Denham, Buccina & Ernst
P O Box 7108
Portland, ME 04112-7108