Disclaimer may not defeat worker’s compensation insurer’s subrogation right

The decedent was shot and killed while performing his duties as an employee and his wife received benefits under the decedent’s employer’s worker’s compensation insurance.

The wife then brought a wrongful death proceeding against her husband’s killer and reached a settlement which would be distributed to her and the couple’s children pursuant to the intestacy statute.

Because the employer would be subrogated by statute to her rights in the wrongful death settlement to the extent of the benefit’s she had received, the wife disclaimed her right to the wrongful death proceeds.

In Gillette v. Wurst, 937 A.2d 430 (Pa. 2007), the court held that a disclaimer cannot defeat the statutory subrogation right.