Texas Mutual Insurance Co. v. Ledbetter

in which Chief Justice JEFFERSON, Justice HECHT, Justice O’NEILL, Justice WAINWRIGHT, Justice MEDINA, Justice GREEN, and Justice WILLETT joined, and in which Justice JOHNSON joined as to Parts I through III and Part V.

For decades, Texas law has required the first money recovered by an injured worker from a tortfeasor to go to the worker’s compensation carrier, and until the carrier “is paid in full the employee or his representatives have no right to any funds.” 1 In this case, a $4.5 million settlement was structured so the plaintiffs and their attorney got all the funds and the compensation…