Jennings v. Hitchens

493 A.2d 307, 1984 Del. Super. LEXIS 872
CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedDecember 21, 1984
StatusPublished

This text of 493 A.2d 307 (Jennings v. Hitchens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jennings v. Hitchens, 493 A.2d 307, 1984 Del. Super. LEXIS 872 (Del. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

RIDGELY, Judge.

This is an appeal by Employer-Appellant Robert Jennings (“Employer”) from a decision of the Industrial Accident Board (“Board”) that denied Employer’s application for leave to deposit funds pursuant to 19 Del.C. § 2359 in full satisfaction of an award previously entered pursuant to an agreement between Claimant-Appellee Preston Hitchens (“Claimant”) and the Employer. Employer further appeals the Board’s award of attorney’s fees to Claimant.

I.

As the result of a compensable industrial accident that rendered Claimant hemiplegic, Claimant and Employer entered into an agreement that was approved by the Board on December 20, 1982. The relevant terms of this agreement provided for a judgment by confession against Employer, who was uninsured, in the amount of $58,562.16. This sum represented the then present value of total disability payments only for the remainder of Claimant’s lifetime. Employer is obligated to pay $83.33 per week for Claimant’s lifetime, and in the event of default, the full amount of the judgment immediately becomes due with interest at the legal rate, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. In the event of Claimant’s death, the judgment is to be marked satisfied, provided the weekly payments are current. The confessed judgment has been entered in this Court in Kent and Sussex Counties as a lien on Employer’s real property.

Employer sought approval of the Board pursuant to 19 Del.C. § 2359 1 for a plan to deposit funds in full satisfaction of the December 20, 1982 agreement. The Em[309]*309ployer’s proposal involved the sale of certain real estate that was subject to the judgment lien in order to pay off federal tax liens of $70,000. The Employer’s net proceeds would be $20,000, and he intended to borrow the difference in order to place $56,000 (the estimated present value of the total disability benefits) in trust with Sussex Trust Company. The bank would then pay Claimant $83.33 per week until Claimant’s death or termination of total disability, whereupon any balance would revert to Employer.

After noting that Employer was seeking to revoke the prior Stipulation and Order, the Board refused to approve Employer’s application because the fund would not provide sufficient security to secure the payment of all medical and possible death benefits to Claimant in addition to total disability benefits.

II.

Pursuant to 19 Del.C. § 2344, the December 20, 1982 Stipulation and Order remains “final and binding” unless modified under 19 Del.C. § 2347.2 American Consumer Indus., Inc. v. Fehl, Del.Super., 391 A.2d 224 (1978). No statutory ground for modification was presented, and the Board lacked jurisdiction to modify the previous order. Klein v. Cargill, Inc., Del.Supr., 477 A.2d 710 (1984). The Employer argues that 19 Del.C. § 2359 permits the Board in its discretion to approve the deposit of funds in satisfaction of his obligation. I conclude that this section is unavailable to Employer under the facts of this case.

Section 2359 is not available to an Employer unless all of these elements are present:

1. An award must already have been entered or an agreement for compensation must have been filed;
2. Death or the nature of the injury must render the amount of future payments of compensation certain; and
3.The amount to be paid to an approved bank or trust company with an office in the county in which the award was entered must equal all future installments of compensation.

The burden is upon the Employer to show by a preponderance of the evidence to the Board that this section is available. Cf. Lawson v. Chrysler Corp., Del.Super., 199 A.2d 749 (1964). Upon such a showing, the Board in its discretion may approve the payment in trust for the employee or his dependents “who shall have no further recourse against the employer.” 19 Del.C. § 2359(a).

There is no dispute that an agreement had been previously filed, but the parties do dispute the scope of their agreement. Employer argues that the agreement contemplates by its terms only the payment of total disability benefits. Claimant argues that the judgment pursuant to the agreement secures not only total disability benefits, but also medical bills and any other type of compensation applicable. The Court need not resolve the scope of the agreement for purposes of this appeal because it is clear that the Employer did not carry his burden of proof regarding the certainty of the amount of future payments of compensation.

In the present case, the record shows the Claimant to be a hemiplegic. Claimant’s counsel contended that his client may also be entitled to additional compensation for increased permanent injury and medical expenses. Additionally, Claimant’s counsel argued that Claimant’s dependents may be entitled to death benefits. The contention by Claimant that the extent of all of his future compensation remained uncertain was not disputed by the Employer before the Board.

[310]*310Section 2359 contemplates a rare arrangement whereby the Employer may transfer all of his liability under the Workmen’s Compensation Act to a trust established for the benefit of an employee. The statute specifically provides that “[s]uch sum, together with all interest arising from the investment thereof, shall thereafter be held in trust for the employee, or his dependents, who shall have no further recourse against the employer.” 19 Del.C. § 2359(a). (emphasis added) As one court has stated in its interpretation of a trust arrangement under a statute with a similar limitation upon the employee or his dependents:

“Further liability of the employer immediately ceased upon the payment to the trustee, and the rights of the beneficiary and the employer were finally determined. The employee must look entirely to the fund in the hands of the trustee for compensation.” Employers’ Mutual Liability Insurance Company v. Empire National Bank & Trust Company, Minn.Supr., 192 Minn. 398, 256 N.W. 663, 665 (1934).

This explains the certainty of future compensation requirement, which serves to protect an employee from the hardship of not having any recourse for benefits to which he would otherwise be entitled under the Act.

I, therefore, find the decision of the Board that denies Employer’s application pursuant to 19 Del.C. § 2359 to be supported by substantial evidence and to be free from legal error. Under such circumstances, the decision must be affirmed by this Court. Dallachiesa v. General Motors Corporation, Del.Super., 140 A.2d 137 (1958); General Motors Corp. v. Veasey, Del.Supr., 371 A.2d 1074 (1977).

III.

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Related

Bagley v. Phoenix Steel Corporation
369 A.2d 1081 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1977)
Dallachiesa v. General Motors Corporation
140 A.2d 137 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1958)
Lawson v. Chrysler Corporation
199 A.2d 749 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1964)
Barnes v. Panaro
238 A.2d 608 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1968)
General Motors Corporation v. Cox
304 A.2d 55 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1973)
Huff v. Industrial Accident Board
430 A.2d 796 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1981)
General Motors Corp. v. Veasey
371 A.2d 1074 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1977)
Phoenix Steel Corp. v. Brinzo
405 A.2d 678 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1979)
Klein v. Cargill, Inc.
477 A.2d 710 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1984)
American Consumer Industries, Inc. v. Fehl
391 A.2d 224 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1978)
Keith v. Dover City Cab Co.
427 A.2d 896 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
493 A.2d 307, 1984 Del. Super. LEXIS 872, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jennings-v-hitchens-delsuperct-1984.