Pina's Case

As a result of injuries she sustained when leaving work on January 3, 1975, the plaintiff (Pina) received workers’ compensation benefits (as of December 12, 1980: ninety-five dollars weekly for permanent and total incapacity) from her employer’s insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty). Pina also brought a third-party action in the Superior Court against McGill Development Corporation *389and recovered a judgment in her favor in that action. See Pina v. McGill Dev. Corp., 388 Mass. 159 (1983). Out of the proceeds of that award Liberty was reimbursed the benefits it previously had paid…