Utah House approves compromise on workers' compensation liability, sends amended SB 224 to Senate

Representative Dennis Stevens introduced and guided the House through Substitute Senate Bill 224, a compromise package described as resolving issues stemming from the Sullivan case and merging three related bills. The measure changes how fault is allocated when a party is immune from suit: if the immune party is assigned less than 40% of fault, nonimmune parties share liability proportionately; if the immune party is 40% or more at fault, no defendant will be held liable for more than its actual comparative fault.

Stevens said the package "merges all 3 of these bills together and would ask for your support," describing it as the product of negotiations with sponsors and the governor. He told colleagues the bill "adopts the basic principles" to reduce shifting liability to third parties while protecting employers' exclusive-remedy provisions.

Members asked technical questions about multi-party scenarios and whether several parties each below 40% could together exceed 40% and affect liability. Stevens consulted counsel on the floor and clarified that those individual parties would not be required to pay the difference if each remains under the 40% threshold.

The House recorded several conflict-of-interest disclosures from members who are employers or involved with the retirement system; after debate the House voted to amend and pass the measure. Substitute Senate Bill 224 was recorded as passing the House, 65 affirmative to 3 negative, and was referred to the Senate for its consideration.

What happens next: The bill will go to the Senate, where sponsors and opponents may again seek amendments; the House record shows the author and floor managers framing the package as a negotiated compromise among trial lawyers, labor groups, the governor and legislative leaders.

Speakers quoted in this article are identified in House records and appear in the transcript.