Knight Properties, Inc., et al. v. Sanders, et al.
| Docket Number: | 2010-CA-00404-COA Linked Case(s): 2010-CA-00404-COA ; 2010-CT-00404-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 08-02-2011 Opinion Author: Myers, J. Holding: Reversed and remanded |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Insurance - Jurisdiction of Workers' Compensation Commission - Section 71-3-37(13) - Reimbursement clause Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, C.J., Irving and Griffis, P.JJ., Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton, Maxwell and Russell, JJ. Procedural History: Dismissal Nature of the Case: CIVIL - INSURANCE |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 01-29-2010 Appealed from: Madison County Circuit Court Judge: William E. Chapman, III Disposition: DISMISSED FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION Case Number: 2007-0103C |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Knight Properties, Incorporated and Builders and Contractors Association of Mississippi |
H. WESLEY WILLIAMS, III |
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| Appellee: | Kenny Sanders, Individually; Kenny Sanders, A Sole Proprietorship and First Comp Insurance Company | ALAN M. PURDIE CHRISTOPHER HAILEY CORKERN | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Insurance - Jurisdiction of Workers' Compensation Commission - Section 71-3-37(13) - Reimbursement clause |
| Summary of the Facts: | Knight Properties, Inc. employed Kenny Sanders as a subcontractor. First Comp Insurance Company, Sanders’s insurer, purported to cancel his policy for nonpayment of premiums. One of Sanders’s employees was subsequently injured on the job. The employee sought compensation, contending that Sanders did not have workers’ compensation coverage and that Knight, the general contractor, was therefore his employer under the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Act. The Commission ultimately determined that First Comp had failed to follow the statutory notice requirements when it attempted to cancel Sanders’s policy. It thus found that Sanders did, in fact, have workers’ compensation coverage, and it ordered First Comp to assume responsibility for future payments to the injured employee. During the course of the Commission’s proceedings, Knight paid more than $200,000 in compensation and medical benefits. Knight sought indemnity from First Comp, but the Commission held that it did not have jurisdiction to address that claim. Knight brought suit in circuit court against First Comp to recover the benefits Knight had paid to the injured worker. The circuit court dismissed Knight’s indemnity suit. Knight appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The circuit court found that section 71-3-37(13) gives the Commission exclusive jurisdiction over claims for reimbursement between insurers. Knight argues the Commission’s authority in that respect is limited to the specific circumstances outlined in subsection (13) and does not give the Commission exclusive jurisdiction over all reimbursement claims. The plain language of subsection (13) only allows the Commission to order reimbursement in very specific circumstances, i.e., to amounts paid after the Commission has ordered liability shared between carriers under the first clauses of subsection (13), pending the resolution of the dispute between them. The conditions “until” and “at which time” in the statute make this clear. The reimbursement clause of subsection (13) provides the Commission with the power to order reimbursement under very specific and limited circumstances. The Commission exercises only powers which are specifically granted to it by statute. Thus, the Commission does not have exclusive jurisdiction and the circuit court erred in dismissing Knight’s indemnity suit for want of jurisdiction. |
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