Owens v. C & R WASTE MATERIAL

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Sullivan, J.

These worker’s compensation cases, consolidated on appeal, involve basically the single issue of how the employer’s (or carrier’s) obligation under N. J. S. A. 34:15-40, for its pro rata share of the attorney’s'fee in a third-party tort recovery is satisfied.

N. J. S. A. 34:15-40, a section of the Worker’s Compensation Act, deals with the situation where there is a third-party tort recovery for the same injury or death for which there is compensation liability. Paragraph (b) of Section 40 provides that where the third-party recovery is…