Handy v. City of Lawton

The court holds today that the “collateral source rule” 1 prevents the defendant-City, qua plaintiff’s employer, from securing credit on a tort recovery judgment for medical expenses paid the plaintiff from its comprehensive self-insurance fund. Insofar as the court (1) treats the credit issue as cognizable on a “motion for remittitur” 2 and (2) announces that payments made pursuant to a City-maintained, insurance fund are from a collateral source,31 recede from the pronouncement as well as from today’s judgment. I would hold that the City’s quest for credit was prematurely pressed. Its plea…