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Nelson v. American Family Insurance Group8/28/2001
n negligence," the court must reduce a jury award by "the value of basic or optional economic loss benefits paid or payable." Minn. Stat. § 65B.51, subd. 1. The provision does not limit the offset to causes of action brought in Minnesota. Reading these two provisions together suggests to us that a foreign verdict should be treated the same as a verdict obtained in Minnesota. See Kalberg v. Park & Recreation Bd. of Minneapolis, 563 N.W.2d 275, 278 (Minn. 1997) (when construing a statute, a court must "look to the statute as a whole and give effect to all of its provisions"). It would be absurd to say that an insured can be overcompensated if a liability verdict is obtained outside the state but not if it is obtained in Minnesota. State v. Behl, 564 N.W.2d 560, 570 (Minn. 1997) (Keith, C.J., dissenting) ("statutes are to be given a sensible construction that avoids unreasonable, unjust, or absurd results" (citing Thoresen v. Schmahl, 222 Minn. 304, 311, 24 N.W.2d 273, 277 (1946))).
Finally, appellant argues that, because she agreed to a 33% contingency-fee arrangement with her attorney in the South Dakota action, the jury award does not fully compensate her. This argument is without merit.
II.
Respondent argues that several defenses—res judicata, collateral estoppel, and accord and satisfaction—serve to bar appellant's claim. The district court did not address these issues. Because we have concluded that the district court did not err in its application of the no-fault statute, we also decline to address the applicability of these defenses.
DECISION
The district court did not err in holding that payment of no-fault wage-loss benefits under these circumstances would result in a double recovery to appellant and is, therefore, prohibited by the statute.
Affirmed.
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