By Junell H.B. No. 1020
75R4397 DLF-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the liability of third parties for an injury to an
1-3 employee.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 33.011(5) and (6), Civil Practice and
1-6 Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (5) "Settling person" means a person who at the time
1-8 of submission has paid or promised to pay money or anything of
1-9 monetary value to a claimant at any time in consideration of
1-10 potential liability pursuant to the provisions of Section 33.001
1-11 with respect to the personal injury, property damage, death, or
1-12 other harm for which recovery of damages is sought. The term
1-13 includes a person protected from liability to the claimant by
1-14 Section 408.001, Labor Code.
1-15 (6)(A) "Responsible third party" means any person to
1-16 whom all of the following apply:
1-17 (i) the court in which the action was
1-18 filed could exercise jurisdiction over the person;
1-19 (ii) the person could have been, but was
1-20 not, sued by the claimant; and
1-21 (iii) the person is or may be liable to
1-22 the claimant [plaintiff] for all or a part of the damages claimed
1-23 against the named defendant or defendants.
1-24 (B) The term "responsible third party" does not
2-1 include:
2-2 (i) a person protected from liability to
2-3 the claimant by Section 408.001, Labor Code [the claimant's
2-4 employer, if the employer maintained workers' compensation
2-5 insurance coverage, as defined by Section 401.011(44), Labor Code,
2-6 at the time of the act, event, or occurrence made the basis of the
2-7 claimant's suit]; or
2-8 (ii) a person or entity that is a debtor
2-9 in bankruptcy proceedings or a person or entity against whom this
2-10 claimant's claim has been discharged in bankruptcy, except to the
2-11 extent that liability insurance or other source of third party
2-12 funding may be available to pay claims asserted against the debtor.
2-13 SECTION 2. Section 33.012(d), Civil Practice and Remedies
2-14 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-15 (d) Subsection (b) does [This section shall] not apply to
2-16 benefits paid to a claimant under [by or on behalf of an employer
2-17 to an employee pursuant to] workers' compensation insurance
2-18 coverage, as defined by [in] Section 401.011[(44)], Labor Code,
2-19 that is in effect at the time of the act, event, or occurrence made
2-20 the basis of claimant's suit. If a settling person is protected
2-21 from liability to the claimant by Section 408.001, Labor Code, the
2-22 court shall further reduce the amount of damages to be recovered by
2-23 the claimant with respect to the cause of action by a percentage
2-24 equal to that settling person's percentage of responsibility.
2-25 SECTION 3. Section 417.001(b), Labor Code, is amended to
2-26 read as follows:
2-27 (b) If a benefit is claimed by an injured employee or a
3-1 legal beneficiary of the employee, the insurance carrier is
3-2 subrogated to the rights of the injured employee and may enforce
3-3 the liability of the third party in the name of the injured
3-4 employee or the legal beneficiary. The insurance carrier's
3-5 subrogation interest is limited to the amount of the total benefits
3-6 paid or assumed by the carrier to the employee or the legal
3-7 beneficiary, less the amount by which the court reduces the
3-8 judgment under Section 33.012(d), Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
3-9 If the recovery is for an amount greater than the amount of the
3-10 insurance carrier's subrogation interest [that paid or assumed by
3-11 the insurance carrier to the employee or the legal beneficiary],
3-12 the insurance carrier shall:
3-13 (1) reimburse itself and pay the costs from the amount
3-14 recovered; and
3-15 (2) pay the remainder of the amount recovered to the
3-16 injured employee or the legal beneficiary.
3-17 SECTION 4. Section 417.002(a), Labor Code, is amended to
3-18 read as follows:
3-19 (a) The net amount recovered by a claimant in a third-party
3-20 action shall be used to reimburse the insurance carrier for
3-21 benefits, including medical benefits, that have been paid for the
3-22 compensable injury, up to the carrier's subrogation interest as
3-23 determined under Section 417.001(b).
3-24 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
3-25 applies only to an action commenced on or after that date. An
3-26 action commenced before the effective date of this Act is governed
3-27 by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
4-1 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-2 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.