Milton Burt v. Lockheed Martin Corp., et al.

Summary

The Superior Court of the Virgin Islands considers whether the Virgin Islands Workers’ Compensation Act bars a former refinery worker’s tort claims for pneumoconiosis allegedly caused by toxic exposure during employment. The court concludes that an occupational disease that first manifests after employment does not arise in the course of employment under the Act and strikes Lockheed Martin Corporation’s workers’ compensation affirmative defense. The opinion addresses the Act’s compensation, exclusivity, notice, and injury provisions.

Holdings

1. The Virgin Islands Workers' Compensation Act does not apply to an occupational disease that first manifests after the employee's employment has ended. Because the disease did not come into being or first come to the employee's attention during employment, it did not arise in the course of employment and was not compensable under the Act.
2. The notice provision does not create or establish a substantive right to compensation for a post-employment occupational disease. It governs the procedure for reporting an injury after manifestation and cannot overcome the Act's requirement that the disease arise in the course of employment.
3. Lockheed Martin failed to establish prima facie that its predecessor employers were insured under the Workers' Compensation Act for the entire relevant exposure period. The receipts proved coverage only for portions of the period, and the affidavit was insufficient to establish coverage for the missing years; therefore Lockheed Martin could not claim workers' compensation immunity.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Virgin Islands Workers' Compensation Act applies to an occupational disease that first manifests after the employee's employment has ended.
2. Whether Lockheed Martin established that its predecessor employers were insured under the Virgin Islands Workers' Compensation Act so as to invoke the Act's exclusivity provision.
3. Whether the absence of a genuine issue of material fact entitled either party to summary judgment on the Workers' Compensation Act affirmative defense.

Disposition

other