Future rights to subrogation not waived when there was no express waiver or language referencing future subrogation rights contained in corrected third party settlement agreement

The claimant appealed to the Commonwealth Court, which affirmed the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board. The court found no explicit waiver or mention of future subrogation rights contained within the Corrected Third Party Settlement Agreement. According to the court, “full satisfaction” could reasonably be interpreted to mean waiver of subrogation rights to the extent of the employer’s accrued lien. The court also examined the Original Third Party Settlement Agreement in which the claimant agreed to pay the employer a sum greater than the net lien amount in consideration for the employer’s waiver of past and future subrogation rights. In the Corrected Third Party Settlement Agreement, however, the claimant agreed to pay the employer the exact amount of the net lien with no consideration for waiver of future subrogation rights. In the court’s view, in order for the employer to have waived its rights, it must have expressly stated its intention to do so in the Corrected Third Party Settlement Agreement.

_{Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2015}

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