Court: Kansas Supreme Court
Docket: 118379
Opinion Date: April 2, 2021
Judge: Dan Biles
Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law, Personal Injury
In this case, involving an Employer’s subrogation interest in a $1.5 million settlement, the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the Workers Compensation Board calculating the subrogation interest for Employer and remanding for a larger reduction, holding that the Board correctly determined the calculations. The employee suffered a workplace injury and received workers’ compensation benefits from Employer and its insurance carrier. The employee sued three other entities he claimed were liable for some or all of his injuries and settled with two of those entities. In this matter, the Employer and its insurer sought to be repaid from one of those settlements under Kan. Stat. Ann. 44-504(b). The jury found Employer twenty-five percent at fault and assessed Employee’s damages at more than $4 million. The Board reduced the subrogation interest for Employer’s past and future expenses by twenty-five percent of the settlement, but the court of appeals concluded that the reduction should be by twenty-five percent of the jury’s award. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Board did not err in calculating Employer’s subrogation interest.
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