Worker's Compensation and right of trial by jury?

On Apr 26, 7:11 am, Mike <prabb...@shamrocksgf.com> wrote:

> The 7th amendment doesn't say the person being sued has that right but
> simply "the right of trial by jury"

The rest of the sentence: "... shall be preserved".   Meaning, if it was something you could get a jury trial for in 1776 under English law, the US government cannot take that right away from you.  But the amendment doesn't grant any _additional_  right to a jury trial where such right did not exist at prior English law, such as in "equity" cases (including family law, suits for "reformation" of contracts, wills or deeds, and injunctions).  This goes back to an ancient division between (1) the "King's (or Queen's) Bench" which tried criminal law cases (that is, offenses against the Sovereign) and civil suits at law (those where a petitioner is claiming money damages only), and (2) the ecclesiastical (church) courts, which tried all other matters.  The difference is preserved in some USA states which still have separate court systems for law and equity, while in others (and in the Federal system) the courts have been merged, but even within a single-court system, the right to jury trial only applies to a matter that arises in law, not in equity.

> and the Federal Rules of Civil
> Procedure do say that ANY party to the dispute may request a jury trial
> for anything in a federal court (criminal cases are different and there
> only the defendant can enforce the right or waive it.)

Well, not quite for ANYthing in civil cases.   Only in cases demanding money damages, against a private party, based on common law.   There is no right to a jury trial in a federal suit seeking an injunction, or in other matters arising under a specific federal statute unless the statute itself says that it does.   Federal Tort Claims Act cases, frex, where a plaintiff is seeking damages at law against the US government for a tort claim, does NOT give claimants the right to a jury trial; the FTCA is a statutory waiver of the government's sovereign immunity, and the sovereign has no peers.

> Now since this is
> a state issue and not a federal issue, the 7th might not apply here (and
> I know the Federal RCP doesn't but the state might have a similar
> provision) or maybe this isn't a "suit at common law."

That may have something to do with it, although I haven't analyzed your approach in detail to see if it holds water.  Many of the Bill of Rights amendments have been applied to also limit the State governments, through the operation of the 14th amendment, which does specifically apply to the States.

But more importantly for OP, the Worker's Compensation laws in every state AFAIK do two things: (1) set up a statutory scheme for partial compensation of injured workers without regard to fault; and (2) specifically immunize the employer against tort suits at law by employees.   Sure, a plaintiff has a right to jury trial for a tort suit, but, an employee has no right against the employer that he can pursue through a tort suit.   Hence, not only no jury trial, no suit period.

But as I mentioned in an earlier post, most states probably do give a right to jury trial on APPEAL of an administrative tribunal's determination of a Worker's Compensation claim under the applicable statute.  It's just that to get to that point, you first have to jump through all the right hoops, or "exhaust your administrative remedies"; you  can't get a card that lets you bypass "go" and just go directly to suit.

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Mike Jacobs
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