Sedlacek v. A.O. Smith Corp.

990 A.2d 801, 2010 Pa. Super. 25, 2010 Pa. Super. LEXIS 48, 2010 WL 654294
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 25, 2010
Docket592 Western District Appeal 2008, No. 612 Western District Appeal 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 990 A.2d 801 (Sedlacek v. A.O. Smith Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sedlacek v. A.O. Smith Corp., 990 A.2d 801, 2010 Pa. Super. 25, 2010 Pa. Super. LEXIS 48, 2010 WL 654294 (Pa. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

OPINION BY

FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.:

¶ 1 These appeals are from orders granting summary judgment in favor of appellee, ALCOA, in actions for personal injury in the nature of occupational or work-related disease. As set forth infra and in recognition of this court’s recent decision in Ranalli v. Rohm and Haas Co., 983 A.2d 732 (Pa.Super.2009) (reargument denied), we affirm.

¶ 2 The facts underlying the present appeals are neither extensive, nor complex, and yet very sad. Frank C. Crooks and Edward Sedlacek were both employed by ALCOA and later, long after their employment terminated, and long after either man had had an occupational exposure to asbestos, developed mesothelioma,1 from which they both succumbed. Mr. Crooks was a tool and die maker for ALCOA from 1945 to 1975, was diagnosed with mesothe-lioma on October 11, 2004, and died from that disease on February 20, 2005. Mr. Sedlacek worked at ALCOA from 1956 to 1993, was diagnosed with mesothelioma on May 31, 2005, and died from that disease on November 15, 2006.

¶ 3 Both parties filed personal injury actions in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, contending that the contraction of mesothelioma was due to ALCOA’s negligence. Ostensibly, efforts at recovery in tort were undertaken because the parties were of the well-grounded opinion that the disability/deaths suffered were not compensable under either the Workers’ Compensation Act [804]*804(“WCA”), 77 P.S. § 1 et seq., or the Occupational Disease Act (“ODA”), 77 P.S. § 1201 et seq., due to language in those acts limiting recovery to injury or disease manifesting within a certain period of time from the date of last exposure/employment. Subsequently, ALCOA filed a motion for summary judgment contending that the plaintiffs cause of action was barred by provisions in the WCA and ODA, “which provide employees compensation for disability or death occurring during their employment without regard to negligence in exchange for employer immunity from common law suits filed by employees.” (ALCOA’s motion for summary judgment, at 2.) The court agreed and entered orders granting summary judgment to ALCOA. Following settlement prior to trial with the remaining named defendants, this order was made final and the present appeals followed.

¶ 4 It is clear that under the definitions provided in the WCA and ODA, mesotheli-oma is an occupational disease. As it applies to the present ease, the WCA defines occupational disease thusly:

The term ‘occupational disease,’ as used in this act, shall mean only the following diseases.
* * *
(l) Asbestosis and cancer resulting from direct contact with, handling of, or exposure to the dust of asbestos in any occupation involving such contact, handling or exposure.

77 P.S. § 27.1. Moreover, the Commonwealth Court has found mesothelioma to be an “occupational disease” under the WCA. Sporio v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeal Bd. (Songer Constr.), 692 A.2d 286 (Pa.Cmwlth.1997), reversed on other grounds, 553 Pa. 44, 717 A.2d 525 (1998). Similarly, the ODA lists several recognized occupational diseases without including mesothe-lioma, but further provides a qualifying catch-all definition which has been viewed as including that disease:

§ 1208. Occupational diseases enumerated
The term ‘occupational disease,’ as used in this act, shall mean only the following diseases:
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(n) Ml other occupational diseases (1) to which the claimant is exposed by reason of his employment, and (2) which are peculiar to the industry or occupation, and (3) which are not common to the general population.

77 P.S. § 1208.

¶ 5 Additionally, both the WCA and ODA contain provisions purporting to establish the compensation schemes established in the WCA and ODA as “exclusive” remedies for an employee, as against his employer, for a work-related injury or disability. The WCA provides:

§ 481. Exclusiveness of remedy; actions by and against third party; contract indemnifying third party
(a) The liability of an employer under this act shall be exclusive and in place of any and all other liability to such employes, his legal representative, husband or wife, parents, dependents, next of kin or anyone otherwise entitled to damages in any action at law or otherwise on account of any injury or death as defined in section 301(c)(1) and (2) or occupational disease as defined in section 108.

77 P.S. § 481. The corresponding provision of the ODA states:

§ 1403. Acceptance; persons bound
Such agreement shall constitute an acceptance of all the provisions of article three of this act, and shall operate as a surrender by the parties thereto of their [805]*805rights to any form or amount of compensation or damages for any disability or death resulting from occupational disease, or to any method of determination thereof, other than as provided in article three of this act. Such agreement shall bind the employer and his personal representatives, and the employe, his or her wife, or husband, widow or widower, next of kin, and other dependents.

77 P.S. § 1403.

¶ 6 Whether technically correct or not, the above sections have been generally regarded as imbuing an employer with “immunity” from civil actions by an employee for a “work related” injury or disability. In an argument whose appeal is in its simplicity, ALCOA argues that given the wording of the exclusive remedy provisions, and the fact that mesothelioma is recognized as an occupational disease within the meaning of the Acts, the WCA/ODA are the exclusive vehicles for compensation for loss occasioned by an employee’s contraction of mesothelioma and there is no room for interpretation. Thus, a personal injury action cannot be maintained in the court of common pleas. While there is a facial appeal to ALCOA’s position, the stumbling block in the argument is that the exclusivity provisions have not been interpreted as providing an all encompassing immunity to an employer from suit for work-related occupational disease. This fact has not escaped appellants’ notice. In fact, their argument on appeal is largely grounded upon this fact.

¶ 7 In Greer v. United States Steel Corp., 475 Pa. 448, 380 A.2d 1221 (1977), “common law recovery was sought by an employee for a disease, pulmonary fibrosis, allegedly contracted in the course of employment due to the negligence of the employer.” Id. at 450, 380 A.2d at 1222. The employee filed the action in common pleas court simultaneously with the filing of a claim petition for workmen’s compensation, perhaps because pulmonary fibrosis was not a specifically enumerated disease under either the WCA or the ODA. U.S. Steel sought judgment on the pleadings, arguing that the employee’s exclusive remedy was under the ODA, but was denied.

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Sedlacek v. A.O. Smith Corp.
990 A.2d 801 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
990 A.2d 801, 2010 Pa. Super. 25, 2010 Pa. Super. LEXIS 48, 2010 WL 654294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sedlacek-v-ao-smith-corp-pasuperct-2010.