Klabon v. Travelers.

2024 CO 66. No. 23SA142. Workers’ Compensation—Automobile Insurance.

September 30, 2024

The Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction under C.A.R. 21.1 to answer the following question of law certified by the United States District Court for the District of Colorado:

Whether an employee injured in the course of his employment by the acts of an underinsured third-party tortfeasor, and who receives worker’s compensation benefits as a result, is barred, under Colorado’s Workers’ Compensation Act, Colo. Rev. Stat § 8-41-104, from bringing suit against his employer’s UM/UIM insurer?

The Court concluded that under Colorado law, an employee who is injured in the course of their employment by a third-party tortfeasor and who receives workers’ compensation benefits as a result of that injury can also sue to recover benefits from their employer’s separate uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) carrier. The Court reached this conclusion because the plain language of the pertinent section of the Workers’ Compensation Act of Colorado (WCA), CRS §§ 8-40-101 to 8-47-209, immunizes only employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers from liability.

The Court further determined that when an employee is injured by the negligence of a third party, rather than by an employer or co-employee, a suit to recover UM/UIM benefits does not constitute a suit against the employer or co-employee, and therefore, is not barred by the exclusivity clause of the WCA.

Accordingly, the Court answered the certified question in the negative.