STEVEN LEE ENTERPRISES V. TRESSA VARNEY, Mother and Natural Guardian of Samantha Danielle Varney, Infant Daughter of Danny Varney, Deceased; ROBERT WHITTAKER, Director Administrative Law Judge; and WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD
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RENDERED: NOVEMBER 22,200O
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1999-SC-0129-WC
STEVEN LEE ENTERPRISES
V.
APPEAL FROM COURT OF
NO. 98-CA-0974-WC
WORKERS‘ COMPENSATION BOARD NO. 88-l 5469
TRESSA VARNEY, Mother and Natural Guardian of
Samantha Danielle Varney, Infant Daughter of
Danny Varney, Deceased;
ROBERT WHITTAKER, Director
of SPECIAL FUND; DENIS S. KLINE,
Administrative Law Judge; and
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD
AND
1999-SC-0165WC
ROBERT L. WHITTAKER, Director
of SPECIAL FUND
V.
APPELLEES
APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS
NO. 98-CA-0974-WC
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD NO. 88-l 5469
TRESSA VARNEY, Mother and Natural Guardian
of Samantha Danielle Varney, Infant Daughter
of Danny Varney, Deceased; STEVEN LEE ENTERPRISES;
DENIS S. KLINE, Administrative Law Judge; and
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD
APPELLEES
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE COOPER
REVERSING
Danny Varney became disabled by pneumoconiosis on March 5, 1988. He filed
his verified application for adjustment of claim in May 1988. His application identified
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his wife as Ardena Varney and his dependent children as Darrell Varney, Danny Varney
and Jason Varney, all residing with him at General Delivery, Kimper, Kentucky. Varney
was found to be totally disabled under the 1988 version of KRS 342.732(l)(d) and was
awarded workers’ compensation benefits, which were apportioned 25% against the
employer and 75% against the Special Fund as then required by KRS 342.316(10)(a).
The claimant in this case, Samantha Varney, was born of Danny Varney and Tressa
Sue Brewster on December 29, 1993. The record does not reflect when Danny
divorced Ardena Varney; but he married Brewster in January 1994 and subsequently
divorced her in July 1995. Varney died as a result of his pneumoconiosis on December
10, 1996. On January 10, 1997, Tressa Brewster Varney filed this motion to reopen
Danny Varney’s workers’ compensation claim for the purpose of obtaining death
benefits for Samantha under KRS 342.730(3). (Since it is undisputed that Varney died
as a result of his compensable disease, Samantha’s claim for benefits should have
been brought under KRS 342.750(1)(d).)
By its own language, KRS 342.750 applies only to deaths caused by work-related
injuries. Its provisions are made applicable to deaths caused by occupational diseases
by KRS 342.316(4), now (5)(c), and KRS 342.316(7), now (8). At all relevant times,
KRS 342.316(7) provided:
No compensation for death from occupational disease shall be
payable to any person whose relationship to the deceased, which, under
the provisions of this chapter would give right to compensation, arose,
subsequent to the beginning of the first compensable disability, save only
to after-born children of a marriage existing at the beginning of such
disability.
Relying on this statute, both the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and the
Workers’ Compensation Board denied Samantha’s claim for death benefits. The Court
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of Appeals, however, found that because the statute compensated only after-born
children of a marriage existing when the deceased worker’s disability began, it
impermissibly discriminated against after-born illegitimate children such as Samantha.
For that reason, the Court of Appeals declared the statute to be in violation of the Equal
Protection Clauses of the United States and Kentucky Constitutions and, thus, invalid.
U.S. Const., amend. XIV, Ky. Const. § 3.
KRS 342.316(7), now (8), is but a codification of what we have consistently
recognized as a basic principle of workers’ compensation law, i.e., entitlement to
benefits is determined as of the date of the compensable event, which, with respect to
an occupational disease, is the date of the last injurious exposure or the date of actual
disability, whichever is later. KRS 342.316(1)(b). b, Newbera v. Davis, Ky., 867
S.W.2d 193 (1993) (widow’s entitlement to death benefits is governed by the law in
effect on the date of the worker’s last injurious exposure rather than on the date of his
death); Voat & Conant Co. v. Boelhauf, Ky., 317 S.W.2d 163 (1958) (relationship of
dependency must be determined in accordance with the facts existing at the time of the
accident); Miller v. Elkhorn Coal Corp., 284 Ky. 737, 145 S.W.2d 822 (1940)
(dependency for purposes of workers’ compensation is determined as of the time of the
accident); Franklin Fluorspar Co. v. Bell, 247 Ky. 507, 57 S.W.2d 481 (1933) (the object
of the Workers’ Compensation Act is to compensate those who were dependent on the
employee at the time of the accident). Unlike the Court of Appeals, we do not view KRS
342.316(7), now (8), as discriminating against after-born children of a marriage which
did not exist on the date of the compensable event. Rather, we agree with the ALJ’s
observation that the statute is, in fact, a saving statute which extends benefits to afterborn children of a marriage existing on the date of the compensable event. Otherwise,
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no after-born children would be entitled to benefits. But even if we agreed with the
Court of Appeals on that issue, we would still disagree with the equal protection analysis
applied by that Court to this statute.
A statute challenged on equal protection grounds is subject to “strict scrutiny,”
i.e., sustainable only if the statute is suitably tailored to serve a “compelling state
interest,” if it affects a fundamental right or a suspect classification, such as race,
alienage or ancestry. Massachusetts Bd. of Retirement v. Muraia, 427 U.S. 307, 312,
96 S.Ct. 2562, 2566, 49 L.Ed.2d 520 (1976). However, if the statute merely affects
social or economic policy, it is subject only to “rational basis” analysis. Citv of Cleburne
v. Cleburne Livina Center. Inc., 473 U.S. 432, 440, 105 S.Ct. 3249, 3254, 87 L.Ed.2d
313 (1985). In Wvnn v. Ibold, Inc., Ky., 969 S.W.2d 695 (1998), we rejected an equal
protection challenge to KRS 342.730(4) (the so-called “tier-down” statute), holding that
workers’ compensation statutes affect only economic policy and matters of social
welfare, as opposed to fundamental rights or suspect classes; thus, the statute did not
violate the Equal Protection Clause since it was “rationallv related to a legitimate state
objective.” Wynn v. Ibold. Inc., supra, at 696 (emphasis added).
The Court of Appeals correctly identified illegitimacy as a “suspect classification,”
which, like gender, is subject to a higher level of scrutiny than mere “rational basis”
analysis. Lalli v. Lalli, 439 U.S. 259, 265, 99 S.Ct. 518, 523, 58 L.Ed.2d 503 (1978);
Weber v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 406 U.S. 164, 92 S.Ct. 1400, 31 L.Ed.2d 768 (1972).
Under this higher standard, usually referred to as “heightened scrutiny,” discriminatory
laws survive equal protection analysis only “to the extent they are substantially related
to a legitimate state interest.” Citv of Cleburne v. Cleburne Livina Center, Inc., supra, at
441, 105 SCt. at 3255 (emphasis added). KRS 342.316(7), now (8) is substantially
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related to two legitimate state interests: (1) to compensate members of the deceased
worker’s family as it existed on date of the compensable event, per Franklin Fluorsoar
Co. v. Bell, supra, plus after-born children of that marriage; and (2) “to reduce the
overall cost of maintaining the workers’ compensation system, thereby improving the
economic climate for all the citizens of the state,” per Wynn v. lbold. Inc., supra, at 697.
Nevertheless, KRS 342.316(7), now (8) does not discriminate against Samantha
Varney because of her illegitimate birth. The statute would deny benefits to her even if
her parents had been married to each other on the date of her birth, December 29,
1993. The statute denies her benefits because her parents were not married to each
other on the date of the comoensable event, March 5, 1988.’ On that date, Danny
Varney was married to someone else and had three dependent children by that
marriage who would have been entitled to benefits upon his death if they satisfied any
of the criteria listed in KRS 342.750(1)(e), i.e., under the age of eighteen, actually
dependent, or a full-time student under the age of twenty-two.
Since Samantha is not being denied benefits because of her illegitimacy, KRS
342.316(7), now (8), is subject only to “rational basis” analysis, not to “strict scrutiny” or
“heightened scrutiny.” It is appropriate, therefore, to revisit the nature of that inquiry.
The best summary of what rational basis analysis entails and what it does not entail is
that set forth in Heller v. Doe bv Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 113 S.Ct. 2637, 125 L.Ed.2d 257
(1993), in which the United States Supreme Court analyzed two Kentucky statutes, KRS
’ For the same reason, the statute would have denied death benefits to
Samantha’s mother, Tressa Brewster Varney, even if she had been married to Danny
Varney at the time of his death.
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202A.076(2) and KRS 202B.160(2), and discerned no violation of the Equal Protection
Clause.
We many times have said, and but weeks ago repeated, that
rational-basis review in equal protection analysis “is not a license for
courts to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic of legislative choices.” . . .
Nor does it authorize “the judiciary [to] sit as a superlegislature to judge
the wisdom or desirability of legislative policy determinations made in
areas that neither affect fundamental rights nor proceed along suspect
lines.” . . For these reasons, a classification neither involving
fundamental rights nor proceeding along suspect lines is accorded a
strong presumption of validity. . . . Such a classification cannot run afoul
of the Equal Protection Clause if there is a rational relationship between
the disparity of treatment and some legitimate governmental purpose. . . .
Further, a legislature that creates these categories need not “actually
articulate at any time the purpose or rationale supporting its
classification.” . . . Instead, a classification “must be upheld against equal
protection challenge if there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts
that could provide a rational basis for the classification.” . . .
A State, moreover, has no obligation to produce evidence to
sustain the rationality of a statutory classification. “[A] legislative choice is
not subject to courtroom factfinding and may be based on rational
speculation unsupported by evidence or empirical data.” . . . A statute is
presumed constitutional, . . . and “[t]he burden is on the one attacking the
legislative arrangement to neaative everv conceivable basis which miaht
surmort it,” . . . whether or not the basis has a foundation in the record.
Finally, courts are compelled under rational-basis review to accept a
legislature’s generalizations even when there is an imperfect fit between
means and ends. A classification does not fail rational-basis review
because it “‘is not made with mathematical nicety or because in practice it
results in some inequality.“’ . . . “The problems of government are
practical ones and may justify, if they do not require, rough
accommodations -- illogical, it may be, and unscientific.”
id. at 319-21, 113 S.Ct. 2642-43 (citations omitted) (emphasis added).
Accordingly, if there is any “reasonably conceivable state of facts” supporting the
perceived discrimination in KRS 342.316(7), now (8), the statute does not violate the
Equal Protection Clause and must be upheld even if it is perceived to be unwise, unfair
or illogical. In fact, there are numerous “reasonably conceivable” factual bases
supporting the General Assembly’s decision to extend death benefits for occupational
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diseases to after-born children of a marriage existing on the date of the compensable
event, but not to after-born children of subsequent marriages (or, for that matter, to
after-acquired spouses, new stepbrothers and stepsisters, new brothers and sisters by
the half-blood, new stepparents, and the children of newly adopted children or newly
acquired stepchildren, all of whom would be entitled to benefits per KRS 342.085 and
KRS 342.750(1)(f), (g) if KRS 342.316(7),
now (8), is declared invalid).
Unlike deaths from compensable injuries, deaths from compensable diseases
normally do not occur simultaneously with or shortly after the compensable event. As
here, a worker afflicted with an occupational disease may linger for years before finally
succumbing to its effects. In the interim, the disabled worker could confer a
continuation of his benefits upon literally generations of after-acquired relatives by, u,
marrying a friend or relative’s child or grandchild, marrying a much younger spouse with
infant stepchildren, or adopting his or her spouse’s nieces, nephews or grandchildren in
contemplation of his own death. In this regard, it is appropriate to note that according to
official records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the last dependent of a
Revolutionary War veteran died in 1911 and the last dependent of a veteran of the War
of 1812 died in 1946; and that as of July 1, 1998, the V.A. was still paying pension
benefits to one surviving spouse and fourteen surviving children of Civil War veterans
and to 570 surviving spouses and 309 surviving children of Spanish-American War
veterans.*
By enacting KRS 342.316(7),
now (8), the General Assembly limited death
benefits for occupational diseases to those persons related to the disabled worker as of
* Department of Veterans Affairs, America’s Wars (visited Aug. 2, 2000)
<http://www.va.gov/pressrel/AmWars99.htm>.
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the date of the compensable event, plus after-born children of a marriage existing on
that date. By excluding all other after-acquired relatives, the General Assembly gave
the employer, its insurer and the Special Fund a reasonable basis to anticipate the
amount and duration of their potential liability for a particular claim and to establish
reasonable monetary reserves to cover that liability. In doing so, the statute reduces
the overall cost of maintaining the workers’ compensation system and thereby improves
the economic climate for all citizens of the Commonwealth. Wynn v. Ibold. Inc., supra,
at 697. Thus, as in Wynn, there is a rational basis for what Samantha Varney
perceives as discrimination against after-acquired relatives in KRS 342.316(7), now (8).
That being the case, even if the statute did discriminate against after-acquired relatives,
it would not violate the Equal Protection Clauses of the United States and/or Kentucky
Constitutions.
Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals and reinstate the orders of the ALJ
and the Workers’ Compensation Board dismissing Samantha Varney’s claim for death
benefits.
Graves, Johnstone, and Keller, JJ., concur. Stumbo, J., dissents by separate
opinion, with Lambert, C.J., and Wintersheimer, J., joining that dissent.
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COUNSEL FOR STEVEN LEE ENTERPRISES:
David H. Neeley
Neeley & Reynolds Law Firm, P.S.C.
Suite 505, Fifth Floor
311 North Arnold Avenue
Prestonsburg, KY 41653
COUNSEL FOR ROBERT L. WHITTAKER, ETC.:
David W. Barr
Kentucky Labor Cabinet
Division of Special Fund
Suite 4
1047 U.S. Highway 127 South
Frankfort, KY 40601
COUNSEL FOR TRESSA VARNEY, ETC.:
Robert J. Greene
Kelsey E. Friend Law Firm
2nd Floor, Pauley Building
P.O. Box 512
Pikeville, KY 41502
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RENDERED: NOVEMBER 22,200O
TO BE PUBLISHED
&qmne thnwt af Kmturkp
1999-SC-0129-WC
STEVENLEEENTERPRISES
V.
APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS
NO. 98-CA-0974-WC
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD NO. 88-l 5469
TRESSA VARNEY, Mother and Natural Guardian of
Samantha Danielle Varney, Infant Daughter of
Danny Varney, Deceased; ROBERT WHITTAKER,
Director of SPECIAL FUND; DENIS S. KLINE,
Administrative Law Judge; and
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD
AND
1999-SC-0165WC
ROBERT L. WHIT-TAKER,
of SPECIAL FUND
V.
APPELLEES
Director
APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS
NO. 98-CA-0974-WC
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD NO. 88-15469
TRESSA VARNEY, Mother and Natural Guardian
of Samantha Danielle Varney, Infant Daughter
of Danny Varney, Deceased; STEVEN LEE ENTERPRISES;
DENIS S. KLINE, Administrative Law Judge; and
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD
APPELLEES
DISSENTING OPINION BY JUSTICE STUMBO
Respectfully, I must dissent. I do not believe that KRS 342.316(7)
can withstand
equal protection scrutiny. I can find no legitimate state interest, substantial or
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otherwise, for distinguishing between the two classes of after-born children. KRS
342.316(7)
discriminates between after-born children born of a marriage in existence at
the time the disability commenced, and after-born children who were not born of a
marriage in existence at the time the disability commenced. While the statute does not
discriminate among after-born children based upon the status of legitimacy, it does so
on a far less tangible basis: the timing of the child’s birth. Both illegitimacy and the
timing of birth are beyond the individual’s control and bear “no relation to the individual’s
ability to participate in and contribute to society.” Matthew v. Lucas, 427 U.S. 495, 505,
49 L. Ed. 2d 651, 660, 96 S. Ct. 2755, 2762 (1976). Consequently, the statutory
classification is subject to the heightened scrutiny standard of review.
Steven Lee argues that the limitation on the payment of occupational disease
benefits is a legitimate attempt on the part of the legislature to contain the number of
persons to whom employers would be liable for payment of continuation benefits. The
General Assembly has a legitimate interest in limiting potential claims in order to
preserve the integrity of the workers’ compensation system. Mullins v. Mannina Coal
Corp., KY., 938 S.W.2d 260, 263 (1997). However, KRS 342.316(7) does not further
the legitimate interest of limiting the liability of the employer or the Special Fund for
payment of continuation benefits. Under KRS 342.750, the employer or the Special
Fund may be liable for payment of continuation benefits to children who are not in
existence at the time the award was made.
KRS 342.316(7)
arbitrarily discriminates between after-born children who are
born of a marriage in existence at the time of the worker’s disability began and those
who were not. The statute cuts off the right of certain after-born children from receiving
continuation benefits from a deceased parent. Yet, in doing so, it does not further a
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legitimate state interest or base this distinction upon any rational or substantial bases.
As a result, I would find that KRS 342.316(7)
is unconstitutional as a violation of
Samantha’s right to equal protection of the law.
Lambert, C. J., and Wintershimer, J., join this dissent.
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