Wal-Mart Gets Subrogation Credit but Loses Bid to Terminate Benefits

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A Wal-Mart employee who received a $900,000 settlement from two third-party contractors blamed for the worker's exposure to carbon monoxide is entitled to workers' compensation benefits after an appropriate set-off , a Kentucky appellate court has affirmed. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Wells, et al., No. 2009-CA-001682-WC (Ky. Ct. App.).

The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Feb. 19 rejected Wal-Mart's contention that state law allows Claimant Donald G. Wells to pursue a civil action or a workers' compensation claim, but not both.

Wells, a Wal-Mart employee, was injured by exposure to carbon monoxide while in a freezer that …