Breese v. Price

Opinion

THE COURT.*

In a third party action for personal injuries, is a workers’ compensation insurance carrier entitled to obtain from the defendant reimbursement for the full amount paid to the plaintiff-employee in settlement of the employee’s workers’ compensation claim, absent proof that the defendant’s tort liability is equal to or greater than the amount of the settlement? We will conclude that a defendant who was not a party to the compensation proceedings, and who has had neither notice nor opportunity to be heard, is not bound by the terms of *926such a settlement. In the personal injury…