Cite as: 505 U. S. 469 (1992)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
Review Board (BRB or Board).1 See id., at 146-147. Eventually, more than 28 months after her husband's accident, the claimant settled a third-party suit for $37,500. About one month thereafter, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), on remand from the BRB, entered an award for the claimant. The value of the death benefits awarded, assuming that the claimant would live out her normal life expectancy without remarrying, amounted to more than $150,000. See In re O'Leary, 5 BRBS 16, 20 (ALJ 1976). At that point, the employer contested liability for any compensation on the ground that, under § 33(g), the claimant had forfeited that compensation by failing to obtain the employer's written approval of the settlement.
The ALJ rejected the employer's position, reasoning that the claimant was not a "person entitled to compensation" at the time of the settlement. The BRB affirmed. The Board pointed out that the "underlying concept" of the LHWCA is that "the employer upon being informed of an injury will voluntarily begin to pay compensation." O'Leary, 7 BRBS, at 147 (citing § 14(a)). Further, the Board observed, § 33(g) refers to the conditions under which an employer will be "liable" for compensation under § 33(f); the reference to "liability," the Board reasoned, "contemplat[es] that [the] employer either be making voluntary payments under the Act or that it ha[s] been found liable for benefits by a judicial determination." Id., at 148. Moreover, the Board continued, § 33(b) gives the employer the right to pursue third parties only if the employer is paying compensation under an award. Thus, the premise of employer rights under § 33, the Board concluded, is that the employer is "making either voluntary payments under the Act or pursuant to an award." Ibid.
1 The BRB consists of persons appointed by the Secretary of Labor and empowered to "hear and determine appeals raising a substantial question of law or fact" with respect to LHWCA benefits claims. § 21(b)(3), 33 U. S. C. § 921(b)(3).
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