474
Opinion of the Court
compensation because he was not receiving payments at the time of the Transco settlement. Thus, the written-approval provision did not apply and Cowart was entitled to benefits. Cowart's total disability award was for $35,592.77, less Cowart's net recovery from Transco of $29,350.60, for a net award of $6,242.17. In addition, Cowart was awarded interest, attorney's fees, and future medical benefits, the last constituting, we think, a matter of great potential consequence. The Board affirmed in reliance on Dorsey. 23 BRBS 42 (1989) (per curiam).
On review, a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed. 907 F. 2d 1552 (1990). Without addressing the Board's specific statutory interpretation, it held that § 33(g) contains no exceptions to its written-approval requirement. Because this holding, and a decision by a panel in a different case, Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. v. Barger, 910 F. 2d 276 (CA5 1990), conflicted with a previous unpublished decision in the same Circuit, Kahny v. O. W. C. P., 729 F. 2d 777 (CA5 1984), the Court of Appeals granted rehearing en banc. The Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), a part of the Department of Labor, 20 CFR § 701.201 (1991), appeared as a respondent before the full Court of Appeals to defend the interpretation and decision of the Board.
In a per curiam opinion, the en banc Court of Appeals confirmed the panel's decision reversing the BRB in its Cowart case. 927 F. 2d 828 (CA5 1991). The Court of Appeals' majority held that § 33(g) is unambiguous in providing for forfeiture whenever an LHWCA claimant fails to get written approval from his employer of a third-party settlement. The majority acknowledged the well-established principle requiring judicial deference to reasonable interpretations by an agency of the statute it administers, but concluded that the plain language of § 33(g) leaves no room for interpretation. Judge Politz, joined by Judges King and Johnson, dissented on the ground that the OWCP's was a reasonable
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