Rafn Co. v. Department of Labor & Industries

17 P.3d 711, 104 Wash. App. 947
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 15, 2001
DocketNo. 25575-8-II
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 17 P.3d 711 (Rafn Co. v. Department of Labor & Industries) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rafn Co. v. Department of Labor & Industries, 17 P.3d 711, 104 Wash. App. 947 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Houghton, J.

Rafn Company appeals the trial court’s determination on summary judgment that RCW 51.16.060 is constitutional. Because the statute, which requires employers to pay the industrial insurance premiums of temporary workers when the temporary help company fails to pay, violates neither procedural nor substantive due process, we affirm.

FACTS

Rafn Company (Rafn) is a general contractor engaged in large commercial construction contracts. On occasion, Rafn [949]*949employs laborers hired from temporary help companies such as Madden Temporary Services, Inc. (Madden) and Quik Labor, Inc. (Quik Labor). Rafn pays the temporary help companies the full hourly rate for each worker with no deductions for taxes or industrial insurance premiums. The temporary help company is considered the employer for purposes of paying premiums and assessments under chapter 51 RCW and is thus primarily responsible for making those payments. RCW 51.16.060. But if the temporary help company fails to make the payments, the hiring company must make them. RCW 51.16.060.

On September 16, 1997, and January 2, 1998, Rafn learned from the Department of Labor and Industries (L & I) that Madden and Quik Labor had not paid industrial insurance premiums for workers hired out to Rafn in the last two quarters of 1996 and the first two quarters of 1997. L & I tried to collect the premiums from Rafn under RCW 51.16.060. Rafn requested reconsideration, which was denied, and then sought declaratory and injunctive relief in the superior court.

Rafn alleged that the fifth proviso of RCW 51.16.0601 violated Washington Constitution article I, section 3, United States Constitution amendment XTV, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Both Rafn and L & I moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted L & I’s motion and denied Rafn’s. The Supreme Court denied Rafn’s petition for direct review and transferred the matter to this court.

ANALYSIS

Chapter 51 RCW governs all aspects of a worker’s remedy against his or her employer for injuries sustained in the course of employment. RCW 51.04.010. Generally, other than self-insurers, all employers must pay quarterly premiums into the state industrial insurance fund. RCW [950]*95051.16.060. The premium amount varies depending upon the nature of the business, the specific business classification, the unit of exposure that applies to the industry, and the individual company’s experience factor. WAC 296-17-31010. Chapter 51 RCW also contains a quid pro quo: In return for employer contributions to the worker’s compensation fund and no fault insurance for workers, all civil actions for personal injuries sustained in the course of employment are extinguished, except as allowed in chapter 51 RCW. RCW 51.04.010.

The Legislature added the fourth2 and fifth provisos to RCW 51.16.060 in 1977. Laws of 1977, ch. 323, § 11. Before 1977, it was not clear whether temporary help companies or hiring companies were responsible for temporary workers’ premiums. From 1911 to 1977, RCW 51.16.060 and its predecessors simply required all employers not qualifying as self-insurers to insure with the state. See Laws of 1911, ch. 74, § 4; RCW 51.16.070 (1976). The law did little to define the rights and liabilities of the two parties. See Lunday v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus., 200 Wash. 620, 624, 94 P.2d 744 (1939) (stating both a temporary help company and a hiring company may be jointly and severally liable for compensation to a worker injured in the course of employment). In effect, the fifth proviso of RCW 51.16.060 codifies Lunday and clearly defines when a hiring company’s liability will accrue.

Wash. Const, art. I, § 3

Rafn first contends that the fifth proviso violates article I, section 3 of the Washington Constitution. But Rafn fails to show how applying an independent state constitutional analysis allows for a treatment different than that the federal constitution affords. See State v. [951]*951Gunwall, 106 Wn.2d 54, 61-62, 720 P.2d 808 (1986) (setting forth six “nonexclusive neutral criteria” to guide independent interpretation of state constitution); see also City of Spokane v. Douglass, 115 Wn.2d 171, 176, 795 P.2d 693 (1990) (noting long-standing requirement that party invoking potentially greater protection of Washington Constitution address Gunwall criteria). Because Rafn fails to analyze the Gunwall criteria or to present argument or analysis on the subject, we decline to consider its due process claims under the state constitution. See Douglass, 115 Wn.2d at 176-77.

Procedural Due Process

Rafn further contends that the fifth proviso is unconstitutional because it arbitrarily imposes liability on employers for the debts of others. A party challenging a statute as unconstitutional bears the burden of proving the statute is unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. Erickson & Assocs. v. McLerran, 123 Wn.2d 864, 869, 872 P.2d 1090 (1994). If we can conceive of any set of facts that would sustain a legislative enactment as constitutional, we assume that set of facts existed when the Legislature passed the statute. See Williamson v. Lee Optical of Okla., Inc., 348 U.S. 483, 487, 75 S. Ct. 461, 99 L. Ed. 563 (1955) (upholding statute based upon entirely hypothetical facts); see also Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Wash. Life & Disability Ins. Guar. Ass’n, 83 Wn.2d 523, 528, 520 P.2d 162 (1974) (declaring “[e]very state of facts sufficient to sustain a classification which reasonably can be conceived of as having existed when the law was adopted will be assumed.”).

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Bluebook (online)
17 P.3d 711, 104 Wash. App. 947, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rafn-co-v-department-of-labor-industries-washctapp-2001.