Pacific Insurance Company, Limited v. Champion Steel, LLC

Summary

The court held that a workers' compensation insurer may maintain a common-law equitable subrogation action in its own name against third-party tortfeasors responsible for an employee's injuries. The insurer had standing because its payment of benefits gave it a colorable claim of direct injury and interest in the action, and the workers' compensation statutes did not expressly abrogate equitable subrogation. The court reversed the dismissal and remanded for the trial court to balance the equities and determine whether subrogation should be ordered; the separate appeal was dismissed as unnecessary.