Mont. High Court: Retirees Can Lose Workers' Comp

Justices Brian Morris and James Nelson dissented.

"The court ... employs a toothless analysis that permits the legislature to advance the perfectly legitimate task of protecting the economic viability of the workers' compensation system through the illegitimate means of penalizing injured workers who have qualified for (Social Security)," Morris wrote. He said he could accept some coordination of benefits similar to how Montana law reduces workers' compensation benefits by one-half of the amount of Social Security disability benefits a person receives.