CHARLESTON, NC -- The Workers’ Compensation Commission has properly applied the stricter benefit standards and other measures from last year’s legislative overhaul of the state’s insurance system for on-the-job injuries, the Supreme Court concluded Thursday.
The 3-2 ruling sides with the commission in rejecting a consolidated trio of challenges to its enactment of Senate Bill 2013 and its sweeping provisions.
The 38-page unsigned opinion said the commission properly set July 1, 2003, as the date for applying provisions that reduced partial permanent disability payments and to make permanent total disability awards more difficult to obtain.
Injured workers had filed two of the challenges, arguing the date the injury occurred should govern which set of rules apply.
An employer, Wampler Foods, filed the third challenge and argued the tighter standards should apply to cases that were decided by the commission before July 1, 2003, but are now under appeal. The commission contends the old rules apply in that setting, and the Supreme Court agreed.
The majority said the ruling should allow the commission to operate the system and apply the 2003 changes " in a fiscally responsible and sound manner."
The ruling is unsigned, as it sets no legal precedent.
Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard and Justice Warren McGraw both agreed with and dissented from the majority ruling, and may file separate opinions.
Last month in an interview with The Associated Press, Workers’ Compensation Executive Director Greg Burton said an adverse Supreme Court ruling would jeopardize the program because it would have required the state to pay about $1.1 billion in claims.
On Thursday, Burton praised the court for its ruling.
"This decision by the court is the right decision for two reasons: it confirms that we are compensating injured workers fairly and in compliance with the language in Senate Bill 2013, and it allows us to continue with full implementation of the bill’s provisions," he said.
The Legislature adopted the legislation to keep the program, which covers the state’s injured workers, from bankruptcy.
In the year the law has been in effect, the program has been able to save $150 million by eliminating escalating payments for total disability claims based on changes in cost of living and the state’s average weekly wage.
It also has saved $60 million by terminating benefits once claimants reach 70 years of age, and $20 million by recognizing a new definition for permanent total disability claims. The agency plans to review nearly 7,000 such claims to determine continued eligibility, Burton said.