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Payne v. Charlotte Heating & Air Conditioning8/16/2005
Clause. Id. at 400, 462 S.E.2d at 234.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-63 provided that:
Compensation shall not be payable for disability or death due to silicosis and/or asbestosis unless the employee shall have been exposed to the inhalation of dust of silica or silicates or asbestos dust in employment for a period of not less than two years in this State, provided no part of such period of two years shall have been more than 10 years prior to the last exposure.
(Emphasis added.) The Commission in Walters had denied the plaintiff's claim for benefits based on asbestosis because he had not been exposed to asbestos dust for a period of two years in North Carolina during the 10 years prior to his last exposure.
In Walters, the Court first determined that the case implicated the Equal Protection Clause because " he plaintiff suffers from asbestosis, a specifically enumerated occupational disease, N.C.G.S. § 97-53(24) (1991), and is therefore situated similarly to all other persons with occupational diseases." Walters, 120 N.C. App. at 400, 462 S.E.2d at 234. Once the Equal Protection Clause came into play, the question before the Court became "whether N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-63, which treats employees with asbestosis and silicosis differently from other occupational diseases, furthers some legitimate state interest." Id.
The defendants in Walters argued that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-63 prevented forum shopping and ensured that North Carolina employers are not burdened with paying workers' compensation claims for which they are not responsible. The Court, however, noted that " lthough the prevention of forum shopping and the protection against claims for which the employer is not responsible are legitimate state interests and are served by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-63, the statute is grossly under inclusive in that it does not include all who are similarly situated." Walters, 120 N.C. App. at 401, 462 S.E.2d at 234. The Court explained: "There are . . . many other serious diseases, such as byssinosis, that develop over time and to which N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-63 does not apply and the defendants have not asserted any justification for treating asbestosis and silicosis differently from these other serious diseases." Id. at 401, 462 S.E.2d at 233 (internal quotation marks omitted). The Court, therefore, concluded that "the constitutionality of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-63 cannot be sustained and this case must be remanded to the Commission." Id.
Walters establishes the applicability of the Equal Protection Clause to this case based on its holding that a plaintiff suffering from asbestosis is "situated similarly to all other persons with occupational diseases." Id. at 400, 462 S.E.2d at 234. Further, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-61.6 treats people suffering from asbestosis and silicosis differently than people suffering from other latent occupational diseases. See Walters, 120 N.C. App. at 400, 462 S.E.2d at 233-34 ("The principle of equal protection of the law is explicit in both the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 19 of the Constitution of North Carolina and requires that all persons similarly situated be treated alike." (internal citations omitted)). As in Walters, the question before this Court is whether the distinction between employees suffering asbestosis or silicosis and employees suffering from other latent occupational diseases "bears a rational relationship to or furthers some legitimate state interest (minimum scrutiny)." Id., 462 S.E.2d at 234.
In arguing that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-61.6 furthers a legitimate state interest, defendants contend that it is a statute of repose and thus advances the State's interest i
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