CNA Insurance Co. v. Colman

610 A.2d 1257, 222 Conn. 769, 1992 Conn. LEXIS 219
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedJune 18, 1992
Docket14366
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 610 A.2d 1257 (CNA Insurance Co. v. Colman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
CNA Insurance Co. v. Colman, 610 A.2d 1257, 222 Conn. 769, 1992 Conn. LEXIS 219 (Colo. 1992).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

The central issue in this appeal is whether an employee who is injured while operating his employer’s automobile during the course of his employment is precluded by General Statutes [770]*770§ 31-284 (a)1 from collecting uninsured motorist benefits under his employer’s automobile liability insurance policy.2 The defendant, Frank Colman (Colman),3 was injured in a collision with another motor vehicle while operating his employer’s personal automobile during the course of his employment. After exhausting the third party tortfeasor’s liability coverage and receiving workers’ compensation benefits, Colman commenced a compulsory arbitration proceeding against the plaintiff, CNA Insurance Company (CNA), which insured the automobile driven by Colman, to recover uninsured motorist benefits. Although the arbitration panel ruled that Colman was entitled to such coverage, the trial court granted CNA’s motion to vacate the award. As a result of Colman’s appeal to the Appellate Court, the arbitral award was reinstated. CNA Ins. Co. v. Colman, 25 Conn. App. 651, 595 A.2d 949 (1991). We then granted CNA’s petition for certification4 and now reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.

[771]*771The pertinent facts are not in dispute. On July 11, 1983, Colman was involved in an automobile accident while driving his employer’s personal automobile within the scope of his employment. CNA insured the automobile, along with three others owned by Colman’s employer, under a personal automobile liability policy. Each of the four vehicles carried $40,000 in uninsured motorist coverage.

Prior to making his claim under the CNA uninsured motorist policy, Colman had exhausted the third party tortfeasor’s liability coverage of $20,000 and had received workers’ compensation benefits of $38,758.67. The central issue before the arbitration panel was “whether or not [Colman was] barred from pursuing an action for damages against [CNA] because of having been awarded Workman’s [sic] Compensation benefits from his employer.” The arbitration panel concluded that, because Colman’s action for uninsured motorist benefits was based on a “contractual concept” that existed between Colman and CNA, Colman was entitled to recover benefits despite having already received workers’ compensation benefits.

The trial court granted CNA’s application to vacate the arbitration award in reliance on Ross v. New Haven, 19 Conn. App. 169, 561 A.2d 457 (1989), which had held that § 31-284 (a) made benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act the exclusive remedy for work related injury claims against an employer. The court further concluded that uninsured motorist benefits under CNA’s policy of insurance did not qualify as “additional benefits” under § 31-284 (a).5

[772]*772The Appellate Court reversed the judgment of the trial court. It concluded that § 31-284 (a) “does not bar an employee who has received workers’ compensation benefits from also obtaining uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits” from his employer’s insurer. CNA Ins. Co. v. Colman, supra, 653. Its conclusion was based in part on its reading of our decision in Wilson v. Security Ins. Co., 213 Conn. 532, 569 A.2d 40, cert. denied, 498 U.S. 814, 111 S. Ct. 52, 112 L. Ed. 2d 28 (1990), as having implicitly overruled Ross v. New Haven, supra. CNA Ins. Co. v. Colman, supra, 652.

Having been granted certification to appeal, CNA contends that § 31-284 (a): (1) bars any work related claim for uninsured motorist benefits under an insurance policy procured by the employer; and (2) bars such a claim even though the insurance at issue is an employer’s personal automobile liability insurance. We agree.

We have today concluded, in the companion case of Bouley v. Norwich, 222 Conn. 744, 610 A.2d 1245 (1992), that an employee who has received workers’ compensation benefits for injuries that occurred during the course of his employment is precluded by the clear language of § 31-284 (a) from recovering uninsured motorist benefits from his self-insured employer. We must decide in this case whether the same rule applies when the employer is not self-insured, and thus the employee’s claim is brought against a commercial insurance provider on an uninsured motorist insurance policy procured by the employer.

Colman maintains that his claim against CNA is not barred by the workers’ compensation exclusivity provision because “[ijnsurance companies, like everyone else, should be held accountable for both their acts and [773]*773their contracts,” and because “[t]he benefits sought are contractual benefits from CNA, not from any ‘employer.5 ” His contention has three subparts: (1) his claim is statutory or contractual, and hence is not a personal injury claim; (2) his claim involves only the contractual liability of CNA; and (3) his claim is a special agreement that is expressly excluded from the exclusivity provision by § 31-284 (a). We find none of these arguments persuasive.

We have already determined in Bouley that, in an action against the employer, the statutory or contractual basis of uninsured motorist coverage does not exempt a claim for such benefits from the purview of the exclusivity provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act. Bouley v. Norwich, supra, 756. The characterization of the employee’s claim does not take on special significance just because the employee is pursuing an action against the employer’s insurer.

The fact that the employee’s suit is based on an uninsured motorist insurance policy issued by a commercial insurer does not warrant a departure from the exclusive remedy policy of our Workers’ Compensation Act. Colman’s employer procured and paid for the insurance policy under which Colman is seeking benefits in this case. “Under the Workers’ Compensation Act, both the employer and the employee have relinquished certain rights to obtain other advantages.” Bouley v. Norwich, supra, 752. Pursuant to this compromise, the employer is insulated from bearing any costs arising out of workplace injuries in excess of those provided by workers’ compensation. See Pokorny v. Getta’s Garage, 219 Conn. 439, 454-55, 594 A.2d 446 (1991); Jett v. Dunlap, 179 Conn. 215, 217, 425 A.2d 1263 (1979). Claims paid by an employer’s insurer will presumably be reflected in the insurance premium that the employer must pay. It follows therefore that CNA, as the alter ego of its insured, the employer, must have [774]*774the right to refuse to pay benefits to an employee injured during the course of employment above and beyond the legal liability of the employer. See Wagner v. National Indemnity Co., 492 Pa.

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Bluebook (online)
610 A.2d 1257, 222 Conn. 769, 1992 Conn. LEXIS 219, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cna-insurance-co-v-colman-conn-1992.