Satterfield v. Wahlquist

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania May 3, 1920

Satterfield v. Wahlquist, 267 Pa. 378 (Pa. 1920)

111 A. 253; 1920 Pa. LEXIS 868

Brown, Frazer, Kephart, Simpson, Walling

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam,

The husband of the appellee, while in the employ of the appellant, was struck by an automobile belonging to the Richards-Kelly Company,' and sustained injuries *380which resulted in his death. The appellant executed an agreement to pay compensation for his death, which was approved by the compensation board. The appellee brought an action against the Richards-Kelly Company, which was discontinued upon its payment to her of a certain sum in settlement of her claim against it. Thereupon the appellant filed a petition before the referee for the termination of the compensation agreement, but it was dismissed. On appeal, the compensation board modified the agreement by treating the sum paid to the claimant by the Richards-Kelly Company as an advance payment; but with this the appellant was dissatisfied and appealed to the court below. His petition for the termination of the agreement was there denied, for the reason given in the opinion dismissing his appeal, and on that opinion this appeal is dismissed, at the costs of the appellant.

Reference

Cited By: 4 cases
Status: Published
Syllabus: Worhmen’s compensation — Compensation agreement — Settlement with tort-feasor — Advance payment — Subrogation. 1. Where a widow executes a compensation agreement with her husband’s employer, whereby she accepts a sum stated as compensation for his death, and subsequently settles a suit which she had brought against a third party, who had negligently caused his death, for a sum less than that named in the compensation agreement, and the referee refuses the employer’s request to terminate the agreement, but the compensation board modifies it so as to treat the sum paid to the widow by the tort feasor as an advance payment, such action of the board will be confirmed by the courts. 2. In such case, the rights of the children, unless changed by death, are fixed by the agreement, and cannot be affected by any action of the mother. So far as she is concerned, the compensation board having modified the agreement, their action in that respect cannot be changed by the court. 3. Rights of subrogation under the compensation act do not relate to the award or agreement of compensation. They relate rather to the rights as between the employer and the one who caused the injury.