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Martinez v. Industrial Commission5/28/1991
an action brought by the employee and an action brought by his dependents. The statute thus anticipates that either the employee or his dependents will bring an action against a third party and does not define how credit should be applied when the employee and his dependents recover segregated damages prior to the death of an injured worker.
Absent clear statutory language, we construe the statute in view of the purpose it is intended to accomplish. E.g., State v. Berry, 101 Ariz. 310, 312, 419 P.2d 337, 339 (1966). Section 1023 furthers the general policy of preventing an employee from obtaining the double recovery that would result if he received both compensation benefits and damages from a third party. Travelers Insurance Co. v. Breese, 138 Ariz. 508, 512, 675 P.2d 1327, 1331 (App. 1983). The statutory lien also furthers the legislative purposes of requiring "the third party to pay what he would normally pay if there were no workers' compensation, [reimbursing] the carrier for its compensation expenditure, and [allowing] the compensation beneficiary to enjoy the excess of the damage recovery over compensation." Mannel, 142 Ariz. at 155, 688 P.2d at 1047.
The statutory language gives effect to the general purpose of reimbursing the carrier for its compensation expenditures by extending the lien to the amount actually collected from the third party to the extent of benefits paid. In this case, however, petitioner's spouse has no present right to receive death benefits and the carrier has paid her no benefits. If the spouse never claims or receives death benefits, therefore, no statutory basis exists to give rise to an offset. Although other interpretations are possible, we conclude that the most reasonable interpretation of the statutory language is that when a third party recovery is segregated between present and potential workers' compensation claimants, the carrier's lien rights attach sequentially. In this case, then, section 1023 grants Continental a lien against petitioner's total recovery, to the extent of benefits paid. Continental can offset the credit attributable to petitioner's segregated recovery against future benefits claimed
by petitioner. Section 1023 also grants Continental a lien against the petitioner's spouse's recovery for loss of consortium. If the spouse's potential claim for death benefits matures, Continental's lien will extend to the amount actually collected by the spouse from the third party to the extent of benefits paid. Continental may not, however, apply the credit available to offset the spouse's potential compensation claim to offset petitioner's present compensation benefits.
Our conclusion that, although Continental's lien attaches to the entire recovery, the credit attributable to the recovery for loss of consortium offsets only future death benefits, is consistent with the purposes of the lien. Neither petitioner nor his spouse will obtain a double recovery; the negligent third party must pay petitioner and his family the amount it would pay absent workers' compensation; Continental, as carrier, will be reimbursed for its compensation expenditures, but no more; and petitioner and his family will receive the excess of damages recovered over compensation.
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, we set aside the award.
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