§ 23:1103 — Damages; apportionment of between employer and employee in suits against third

Louisiana § 23:1103

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 23: Labor and Workers' Compensation

Text

§1103. Damages; apportionment of between employer and employee in suits against third
persons; compromise of claims; credit
A.(1) In the event that the employer or the employee or his dependent becomes party
plaintiff in a suit against a third person, as provided in R.S. 23:1102, and damages are
recovered, such damages shall be so apportioned in the judgment that the claim of the
employer for the compensation actually paid shall take precedence over that of the injured
employee or his dependent; and if the damages are not sufficient or are sufficient only to
reimburse the employer for the compensation which he has actually paid, such damages shall
be assessed solely in his favor; but if the damages are more than sufficient to so reimburse
the employer, the excess shall be assessed in favor of the injured employee or his dependent,
and upon payment thereof to the employee or his dependent, the liability of the employer for
compensation shall cease for such part of the compensation due, computed at six percent per
annum, and shall be satisfied by such payment. The employer's credit against its future
compensation obligation shall be reduced by the amount of attorney fees and court costs paid
by the employee in the third party suit.
(2) No compromise with such third person by either the employer or the injured
employee or his dependent shall be binding upon or affect the rights of the others unless
assented to by him.
(3) Any dispute between the employer and the employee regarding the calculation
of the employer's credit may be filed with the office of workers' compensation and tried
before a workers' compensation judge. If a third party action has been filed in a district court,
such dispute shall be filed in the district court and tried before a district judge unless the
parties agree otherwise. However, any determination of the employer's credit shall not affect
any rights granted to the employer or the employee pursuant to R.S. 23:1103(C).
B. The claim of the employer shall be satisfied in the manner described above from
the first dollar of the judgment without regard to how the damages have been itemized or
classified by the judge or jury. Such first dollar satisfaction shall be paid from the entire
judgment, regardless of whether the judgment includes compensation for losses other than
medical expenses and lost wages.
C.(1) If either the employer or employee intervenes in the third party suit filed by the
other, the intervenor shall only be responsible for a share of the reasonable legal fees and
costs incurred by the attorney retained by the plaintiff, which portion shall not exceed one-third of the intervenor's recovery for prejudgment payments or prejudgment damages. The
amount of the portion of attorney fees shall be determined by the district court based on the
proportionate services of the attorneys which benefitted or augmented the recovery from the
third party. The employee as intervenor shall not be responsible for the employer's attorney
fees attributable to postjudgment damages nor will the employer as intervenor be responsible
for the attorney fees attributable to the credit given to the employer under Subsection A of
this Section. Costs shall include taxable court costs as well as the fees of experts retained
by the plaintiff. The pro rata share of the intervenor's costs shall be based on intervenor's
recovery of prejudgment payments or prejudgment damages.
(2) When recovery of damages from a third party is made without filing of a suit, the
employer shall be responsible for an amount, not to exceed one-third of his recovery on pre-compromise payments, for reasonable legal fees and costs incurred by the attorney retained
by the employee or his dependent in pursuit of the third party matter. The responsibility for
payment of this amount shall exist only if there is written approval of the compromise by the
employer, his compensation carrier, or the compensation payor.
D. An insurer shall grant its insured a dollar-for-dollar credit for any amount on any
claim paid pursuant to this Chapter on the employer's behalf and recovered in the current
year, less any reasonable expenses incurred in the recovery by the insurer, in an action or
compromise pursuant to this Section and R.S. 23:1102. The credit shall be used by the
insurer in the calculation of the loss experience modifier promulgated by and in accordance
with the rules of the National Council on Compensation Insurance, to be applied in
determining the annual premium paid by the employer for workers' compensation insurance
under this Chapter. The group self-insurance fund shall apply the loss experience modifier
authorized by R.S. 23:1196.

Legislative History

Amended by Acts 1958, No. 109, §1; Acts 1989, No. 454, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1997, No. 53, §1; Acts 1997, No. 59, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1354, §1, eff. July 15, 1997; Acts 2016, No. 470, §1.