Minnesota Litigator has no experience with workers’ compensation law but understands the system essentially provides no-fault insurance for work-place injuries with the employer’s works-comp insurance taking the premiums, paying out the claims, and being subrogated to any workers’ claims against third-party tort-feasors. (Readers are invited to clarify, correct, show off expertise in the comments!)
In any event, it is clear that, in a case before U.S. District Court Judge Ann Montgomerty (D. Minn.), employer Ace Blacktop waited way too long to intervene in a lawsuit by an employee against a third-party tortfeasor.
The accident in which Ace Blacktop employee suffered serious injuries as in 2005. The jury verdict was 5/18/09 (almost a year ago to the day, as it happens). The judgment was docketed in June, ’09. The judgment of $600,079 was satisfied in September, 2009. On 5/11/10, Ace Blacktop sought to intervene so it could recover its share of the verdict from the injured employer/plaintiff to reimburse it for the pay-out it made for the workers comp claim. Judge Montgomery would not have it. She pointed out that Ace Blacktop failed to give any reason for the delay. She further pointed out that there was nothing left to intervene in…