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LINDEKUGEL v. FLUOR ALASKA3/28/1997
On August 26, 1976, John Lindekugel suffered a serious back injury while working for Fluor Alaska. Lindekugel and Fluor entered into a compromise and release on May
21, 1979, settling Lindekugel's various disability claims for a lump sum payment of $225,000. The compromise and release explicitly preserved Fluor's obligation to pay future medical benefits. It was approved by the Board.
In 1981 Lindekugel went to work for George Easley Construction Company. On October 8th of that year he reinjured his back when he slipped while carrying a heavy sheet of plywood. In March of 1983, he filed an application for adjustment of claim against Fluor and Easley, seeking medical cost reimbursement from Fluor and Easley and disability payments from Easley. The claim referred to both accidents. It came on for hearing on May 12, 1983. At the hearing, but out of the presence of Lindekugel, Gil Johnson, attorney for Lindekugel, announced his desire to dismiss the claim against Fluor, stating that a settlement had been reached with Easley although a compromise and release form putting the terms of the settlement in writing had not been drafted. The hearing chairman indicated that the hearing would be continued until the compromise and release form was submitted for approval. Randall Weddle, attorney for Fluor, objected to continuing the hearing, since he had an out-of-state medical witness ready to testify. Weddle requested an immediate dismissal with prejudice of the claim against Fluor. After an off-the-record discussion, Johnson agreed to dismiss the claim against Fluor with prejudice. After further discussion the chairman stated: "Dismiss [Fluor] with prejudice. Okay. Thank you." The chairman then stated that the hearing was continued with respect to the Lindekugel/Easley claim until the compromise and release "was worked out."
As it turned out, quite a bit of working out was necessary. The Lindekugel/Easley compromise and release was finally filed in 1990. It proposed that Easley would pay Lindekugel $45,000, reciting that Easley had already paid $21,665.85. The compromise and release provided that Easley would not be responsible for "current or future medical benefits" for Lindekugel.
The Board disapproved of the Lindekugel/Easley compromise and release. In a written opinion dated February 6, 1991, the Board noted many deficiencies in the compromise and release — notably it failed to describe at least five surgeries performed on Lindekugel after January 14, 1983. The Board concluded that the compromise and release was not in Lindekugel's best interest. In so concluding the Board stressed the public purpose rather than private rights aspect of workers' compensation , quoting Professor Larson's treatise on Workmen's Compensation Law as follows:
he underlying issue is once more the choice between viewing a compensation claim as a sort of private tort right and recognizing the social-protection character of the compensation system. If one thinks of a compensation claim as a private, personal, adversary money claim against the particular employer and his insurance carrier, one will go to conclude, as the Kansas court did, that "workmen are not in any respect under guardianship or other disability; they and their employers are free agents; they may release their employers from liability for injuries on any agreed terms set forth." What this overlooks is that the entire compensation system has been set up and paid for, not by the parties, but by the public. The public has ultimately borne the cost of compensation protection in the price of the product, and it has done so for the specific purpose of avoiding having the disabled victims of industry thrown on private c
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