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McIntosh v. Sedgwick County6/11/2004
rs compensation benefits.
In Baker v. List and Clark Construction Co., 222 Kan. 127, 128, 563 P.2d 431 (1977), the Supreme Court considered K.S.A. 1975 Supp. 44-510b(j) which deals with duplicative social security death benefits, upheld its constitutionality, and characterized it as
"a 'set-off' provision which provides that workmen's compensation benefits due the dependents of a deceased employee shall be reduced by a specified formula if such dependents are also being paid under the Social Security Act because of the death of the employee."
While Baker deals with death benefits rather than retirement benefits, the common rationale for these two provisions is instructive. The court noted that the statute is consistent with the view of workers compensation described in 4 A. Larson, The Law of Workmen's Compensation, Sec. 97.00 (1976):
"'Once it is recognized that workmen's compensation is one unit in an overall system of wage-loss protection, rather than something resembling a recovery in tort or on a private accident policy, the conclusion follows that duplication of benefits from different parts of the system should not ordinarily be allowed. Since most social legislation in the United States has appeared in unrelated fragments, lack of coordination resulting in cumulation of benefits is quite common; but newer legislation, including the Social Security compensation offset provision, is more carefully drawn to prevent this result.' [Citation omitted.]
"'Wage-loss legislation is designed to restore to the worker a portion, such as one-half to two-thirds, of wages lost due to the three major causes of wage-loss: physical disability, economic unemployment, and old age. The crucial operative fact is that of wage loss; the cause of the wage loss merely dictates the category of legislation applicable. Now if a workman undergoes a period of wage loss due to all three conditions, it does not follow that he should receive three sets of benefits simultaneously and thereby recover more than his actual wage. He is experiencing only one wage loss and, in any logical system, should receive only one wage-loss benefit. This conclusion is inevitable, once it is recognized that workmen's compensation, unemployment compensation, nonoccupational sickness and disability insurance, and old age and survivors' insurance are all parts of a system based upon a common principle. If this is denied, then all coordination becomes impossible and social legislation becomes a grab-bag of assorted unrelated benefits.'[Citation omitted.]" 222 Kan. at 130-31.
The court observed that noteworthy in the legislative history is the fact that the Special Committee on Employer-Employee Relations, which conducted a general review of Kansas workmen's compensation law, gave specific consideration to the recommendations of the President's National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws, which provided:
"We recommend that workmen's compensation death benefits be reduced by the amount of any payments received from Social Security by the deceased worker's family." The Report of the National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws 73 (July, 1972).
The Commission concluded:
"'This offset provision, in conjunction with our other recommendations for death benefits, would provide substantial protection at a lower cost to the employer than if workmen's compensation benefits were to duplicate Social Security benefits. More important, the offset would add equity to the workmen's compensation system because two families would not receive different benefits merely because only one was eligible for the Social Security benefits. Moreover, a
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