Kentucky Supreme Court Decides Section of Workers’ Compensation Act to be Unconstitutional

Equal ProtectionOn April 27, 2017, the Kentucky Supreme Court found a section in the Kentucky Revised Statute to be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. In Marshall Parker v. Webster County Coal LLC, the plaintiff challenged the constitutionality of the Kentucky Revised Statute. Marshall Parker was an underground coal miner for Webster County that got injured when trying to climb over a conveyor belt. At the time of his injury, Marshall Parker was 68 years of age and because he qualified for Social Security retirement benefits, he was only granted temporary total disability income benefits. As stated in KRS 342.730(4):

All income benefits payable pursuant to this chapter shall terminate as of the date upon which the employee qualifies for normal old-age Social Security retirement benefits under the United State Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. secs. 301 to 1397f, or two years after the employee’s injury or last exposure, whichever last occurs.

A worker who is injured more than 425 weeks (or 520 weeks under certain circumstances) before he or she reaches normal Social Security retirement age will receive all of the permanent partial disability income benefits to which he or she is entitled. A worker who is injured less than 425 weeks before he or she reaches normal Social Security retirement age, however, will not receive all of the permanent partial disability income benefits to which he or she is entitled. Since Marshall Parker qualified for Social Security old-age retirement benefits when he was injured, the income benefits under the Kentucky Revised Statute were terminated.

During the trial, it was noted that Kentucky teachers do not participate in Social Security because they have their own retirement program. So if a teacher suffers a work-related injury, he or she is not subject to the limitation in KRS 342.730(4) because he or she does not qualify. The Court found that KRS 342.730(4) does treat workers of the same age differently. Workers who qualified for Social Security retirement benefits were treated differently than those who did not. State legislators are expected to propose amendments to the Kentucky Revised Statute. In the meantime, Kentucky employees who are near or past their Social Security retirement age are entitled to a full 425 weeks or 520 weeks of permanent partial disability.