The Supreme Court disagreed. Writing for the entire seven-member bench, Chief Justice Todd focused entirely on the text of the statute. Section 311 of the Workers’ Compensation Act requires injured workers to give notice to their “employer” within 120 days. The Act defines “employer” in two places. Section 103, which applies to the whole Act, defines the term to include natural persons, partnerships and corporations – but not insurers. Section 401, which falls under Article IV on procedure, broadens the definition to include insurers, but uses the phrase “when used in this article”, clearly limiting that broad definition to Article IV.
Court strikes down Erie Insurance’s notice defense in sole proprietor claim & more related News Here
