Kline v. Arden H. Verner Co.
Kline v. Arden H. Verner Co.
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Appellant, a painter, was injured in the course of his employment. He fell from a ladder suffering pelvic injuries that rendered him impotent. He applied for and received Workmen’s Compensation benefits for the month he was disabled. Denied benefits by the Workmen’s Compensation Board for the resulting impotency, he filed suit against his employer, alleging negligent conduct by a fellow employee as the cause of the injury. The trial court granted summary judgment and upon appeal to the Superior Court, 307 Pa.Super. 573, 453 A.2d 1035, was unanimously affirmed. We agree.
The Workmen’s Compensation Act
While we have not hitherto addressed the constitutionality of the exclusivity clause, we have touched the perimeter with cases so analogous as to leave little room for question.
In Singer v. Sheppard, 464 Pa. 387, 346 A.2d 897 (1975), when appellant argued that the No Fault Act
In Tsarnas v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 488 Pa. 513, 412 A.2d 1094 (1980) we addressed a similar provision of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, immunizing employers from indemnity or contribution actions by third parties. We said that the “purpose of this kind of legislation was to restrict
To change, alter or abolish a remedy lies within the wisdom and power of the legislature and in some instances, the courts. Access to a tribunal is not denied when the tribunal has no jurisdiction to entertain either the claim or the remedy. Time and circumstances require new remedies to adjust to new and unforeseen losses and conditions. To do so, facets of the society often require new immunities or larger responsibility, as the legislature may determine. The workmen’s compensation law has deprived some of rights in exchange for surer benefits, immunized some, to make possible resources to benefit many, who where heretofore without possible or practical remedies.
Appellant cites Dolan v. Linton’s Lunch, 397 Pa. 114, 152 A.2d 887 (1959). The analogy is inapposite simply because the workmen’s compensation law does not address losses incurred by intentional injury by employee or employer. We said there only that a denial of right of access to the courts for existing common law actions might violate Article I, Section 11 without providing some statutory remedy. The instant case, however, is very different. Here, the injury suffered was clearly within the scope of the Act and the appellant was fully compensated under the Act. As this Court stated in Dolan, “[T]he substituted remedy need not be the same.” As the Dolan decision rested comfortably on the language of the Act, the discussion of the possible effect of Article I, Section 11 was dicta, dicta that was subsequently repudiated. See, Freezer Storage, Inc. v. Armstrong Cork Co., supra, 476 Pa. at 281, 382 A.2d at 721. (“To the extent that the dictum therein suggests that the legislature may never abolish a judicially recognized cause of action, we decline to follow it.”)
The appellants have failed to overcome the presumption that the exclusivity clause was constitutional. Lattan
The appellant also attempts an analogy between the Workmen’s Compensation Act and the Occupational Diseases Act.
In advancing this argument, appellant points out' that the Workmen’s Compensation Act was enacted as a “humanitarian” measure, deserving a liberal construction. Krawchuk v. Philadelphia Electric Co., 497 Pa. 115, 439 A.2d 627 (1981). To effectuate those humanitarian goals, appellant argues that the Act should be liberally construed to provide as much recovery as possible. Such concepts of statutory interpretation are resorted to only when language is ambiguous. Statutory Construction Act, supra, 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(b) (1972); In re Fox’s Estate, 494 Pa. 584, 431 A.2d 1008 (1981). Here, there is no ambiguity. The Workmen’s Compensation Act explicitly states that it is the
For these reasons, the decision of the Superior Court is affirmed.
. Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, art. 1 § 101 et seq., 77 P.S. § 1 et seq., as amended.
. Act of July 19, 1974, P.L. 489, No. 176, Art. 1 § 101 et seq. 40 P.S. § 1009.101 et seq.
. Act of June 21, 1939, P.L. 566, No. 284 § 101 et seq. 77 P.S. § 1201 et seq. as amended.
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
I question an analysis of the instant case which frames the issue as being whether the injury is covered under the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Act). Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. § 1 et seq. In my judgment, the instant complaint goes to the adequacy of the legislative remedial provision allowed in cases such as this. I agree with the majority that the Superior Court decision should be affirmed.
Here, the Act including its exclusivity clause, 77 P.S. § 481(a), is clearly applicable to the instant injury. The pelvic injuries were sustained during a fall which occurred within the course of the employment. During the time that appellant was disabled as a result of the injury in question, he in fact did apply for and did receive benefits. The matter in controversy, i.e., the resultant impotence, is not an independent injury but rather a residual consequence of the initial injury.
The Act recognizes losses of this nature and provides for them pursuant to section 306(b), 77 P.S. § 512. Under section 306(b), this would clearly qualify as a permanent partial disability. Scott v. Powell Coal Co., 402 Pa. 73, 166 A.2d 31 (1960). However, since compensation under this section is computed upon the loss of weekly earnings resulting from the condition, appellant who has not sustained a loss of his earnings as a result of the impotence does not qualify for compensation under that section. See Scott v. Powell Coal Co., supra.
[A] claimant who has suffered a permanent partial disability, such as the loss of the senses of taste and smell,*258 or the loss of the use of any functional part of the body, as a result of an accident suffered in the course of his employment, may still recover for that loss under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, but he cannot receive an award if his earnings were equal to or in excess of his weekly earnings before the accident, (Emphasis added). Id., 402 Pa. at 75, 166 A.2d at 33.
The nature and extent of the remedy provided by the General Assembly in a remedial statute is within the sound judgment of the legislature. That discretion should not be intruded upon by the judicial branch. The urged recognition of a common law cause of action would, in fact, constitute that type of unwarranted and impermissible intrusion.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I disagree that appellant’s suit against his employer is barred by the exclusivity provision of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Accordingly, I dissent.
Article 1, Section 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution states that “All courts shall be open, and every man for an injury done him in his ... person ... shall have remedy by due course of law____” Thus, workmen’s compensation, which limits the rights of employees to sue their employers for injuries incurred in the course of employment, can exist only because the Pennsylvania Constitution also empowers the legislature to abolish certain causes of action by employees against their employers and to enact laws that require employers to pay reasonable compensation to employees who are injured in the course of their employment. Pa. Const, art. 3, § 18.
However, Article 3, Section 18 does not empower the legislature to enact laws that abolish an employee’s cause of action without concurrently providing some statutory remedy. Dolan v. Liton’s Lunch, 397 Pa. 114, 152 A.2d 887, 892 (1959). Consequently, appellant’s cause of action is barred by the Workmen’s Compensation Act only if the Act provides some remedy for appellant’s injury.
Thus, it is clear that although appellant has suffered a serious permanent injury — namely, permanent impotence— the Act deprives appellant of both a forum for redress and a remedy, in violation of Article 1, Section 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
I would reverse the order of the Superior Court and remand this case for trial.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- William B. KLINE and Renee Kline, Appellants, v. ARDEN H. VERNER COMPANY, Arden H. Verner, Arden H. Verner Company, Inc. and Arden H. Verner T/A Painters, Inc. and T/A Painters Inc., Appellees
- Cited By
- 76 cases
- Status
- Published