American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company, et al. v. Delores Scott Sullivan et al. (526 U.S. 40)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 3, 1999 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 526 U.S. 40 · 119 S. Ct. 977
- Decided
- March 3, 1999
- Term
- October Term 1998
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. Pennsylvania provides in its workers’ compensation regime that an employer or insurer may withhold payment for disputed medical treatment pending an independent review to determine whether the treatment is reasonable and necessary. We hold that the insurers are not “state actors” under the Fourteenth Amendment, and that the Pennsylvania regime does not deprive disabled employees of property within the meaning of that Amendment. hH Before the enactment of workers compensation laws, employees who suffered a work-related injury or occupational disease could recover compensation from their employers only by resort to traditional tort remedies available at common law. In the early 20th century, States began to replace the common-law system, which often saddled employees with the difficulty and expense of establishing negligence or proving damages, with a compulsory insurance system requiring employers to compensate employees for work-related injuries without regard to fault. See generally 1 A. Larson & L. Larson, Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law §§5.20-5.30, pp. 2-15 to 2-25 (1996). Following this model, Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act, Pa. Stat. Ann., Tit. 77, § 1 et seq. (Purdon 1992 and Supp. 1998) (Act or 77 Pa. Stat. Ann.), first enacted in 1915, creates a system of no-fault liability for work-related…
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