Utah top court boots limit on workers' comp

The Utah Supreme Court on Friday declared unconstitutional a state law that limits the amount of workers' compensation payments for people over age 65 who also can collect Social Security retirement benefits.

The high court said the law unfairly discriminates against older people by "unconstitutionally singling out and reducing workers' compensation benefits" for individuals over 65 who have been injured but who also qualify for Social Security retirement benefits.

The ruling emerged from the case of a man who injured his back in 1998 and then, after another back injury in 2001, had to stop working completely. The Utah Labor Commission found that he had become permanently and totally disabled and awarded him workers' compensation benefits of approximately $1,700 monthly.

The man began getting Social Security disability benefits of $1,100 monthly, but when he turned 65 about a year later, those were converted to Social Security retirement benefits.

However, Utah's so-called offset statute requires that after a person has received six years of workers' compensation payments, the compensation is then trimmed by 50 percent of the amount of Social Security benefits the person is getting.

That would have meant this man would henceforth get $2,250 per month in combined workers' compensation funds and Social Security benefits, as opposed to the $2,800 he had been receiving.

The man challenged the constitutionality of the law, both under the Utah and United States constitutions.

The Utah Labor Commission declined the man's motion to review the state law and the Utah Court of Appeals upheld the commission's ruling.

The Supreme Court, however, has overturned the appeals court's decision.

E-mail: lindat@desnews.com