Leonard v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp.

WELLS, Judge.

The sole question before us is whether we will apply the Virginia rule or the North Carolina rule with regard to whether a third party may defeat a negligent employer’s subrogation rights when the injured employee sues the third party at common law after recovering worker’s compensation benefits from his employer or his employer’s insurance carrier. Both North Carolina and Virginia law are clear to the effect that a negligent third party may not seek contribution from a jointly negligent employer when the employee obtains a judgment against the third party. Hunsucker v. High…