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Belcher v. T. Rowe Price Foundation Inc.3/25/1993
overy for damages for trauma resulting from purely emotional distress that can be objectively determined. The recognition that a person should be compensated
for mental harm resulting from the negligent act of another is in accord with the ever increasing knowledge in the specialties which have evolved in the field of medicine and in the disciplines of psychiatry and psychology. Persons suffering from severe mental distress are no longer simply warehoused in Bedlam type institutions; they are treated by medical experts at no small cost. We are now aware that mental injuries can be as real as broken bones and may result in even greater disabilities.
V
The meaning of "personal injury " in the contemplation of the Workers' Compensation act has not followed the path taken by the meaning of "physical injury" in tort actions. It seems, as demonstrated by the disposition of Belcher's claim, that there has been a steadfast adherence in Workers' Compensation cases to a standard we have found to be outmoded in tort cases -- a standard which treats an injury only as "physical" in the dictionary meaning of "physical," that is, in relation to the body, not the mind, corporeal as opposed to mental.
The right to benefits under Workers' Compensation laws is "based largely on a social theory of providing support and preventing destitution, rather than settling accounts between two individuals according to their personal deserts or blame." 1 Arthur Larson, The Law of Workmen's Compensation, § 1.20 at 2 (1992) (hereinafter, Larson). In exchange for receiving compensation regardless of fault, an employee abandons the right to seek common law tort damages from the employer. Section 9-509 of the Act; see also Cox v. Sandlers, Inc., 209 Md. 193, 198-199, 120 A.2d 674(1956); some actions against third parties are still possible, though the proceeds of a successful lawsuit may at times be applied to reimburse the employer for the compensation payments. § 9-902(e)(2); Railway Co. v. Assurance Corp., 163 Md. 97, 102-103, 161 A. 5(1932); Larson, § 1.10 at 2; cf. Anne Arundel County v. McCormick,
323 Md. 688, 692-694, 594 A.2d 1138(1991). The employer passed the expense of Workers' Compensation on to the consumer, "since compensation premiums, as part of the cost of production, will be reflected in the price of the product." Larson, § 1.10 at 2.
The ultimate social philosophy behind compensation liability is belief in the wisdom of providing, in the most efficient, most dignified, and most certain form, financial and medical benefits for the victims of work-connected injuries which an enlightened community would feel obliged to provide in any case in some less satisfactory form, and of allocating the burden of these payments to the most appropriate source of payment, the consumer of the product.
Larson, § 2.20 at 5.
Thus, the Act has a purpose broader than serving the interests of employers and their employees. More than merely indemnifying workers for injuries sustained on the job , the system embodied in the Act provides compensation when earning power is lost as a result of work-related disabilities. The needs and expectations of society, in addition to those of the work force, come into play. In Knoche v. Cox, 282 Md. 447, 449-450, 385 A.2d 1179(1978), we found the rationale of the Act and its underlying philosophy clearly set out by the General Assembly in the Preamble to the original legislation:
"WHEREAS, The State of Maryland recognizes that the prosecution of various industrial enterprises which must
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