Do Voluntary Offers Still Make Sense in New Jersey Comp?
By now all workers’ compensation practitioners know of the law change in 2018 with respect to voluntary offers or bona fide offers of permanency. The new law amended the 1927 law that allowed employers to make voluntary offers within certain time limits free from counsel fee. The law passed in 2018 provides that if there […]
New Jersey Plaintiff Failed to Prove His Obesity Met Standard of an ADA Disability
Richard Helmrich worked as an Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at Mountain Creek Resort. He was a large man, six-feet-tall with a body mass index between 40.27 and 47.53, above the threshold for obesity. During his employment with the Resort he informed his boss of his weight and heart conditions. His doctor diagnosed him […]
UBER Style Business Found To Be Employer of Driver
Julio Pendola fractured his ankle in 2014 picking up a customer and filed a petition in the Division of Workers’ Compensation. He asserted that he worked exclusively as a driver for Classic, which had over 100 cars. He purchased his own car after consulting with Classic. The company required Pendola to paint the car silver […]
Two Competing Maxims In Workers’ Compensation
There are two maxims in workers’ compensation that appear on their face to be contradictory. The first is that the employer takes employees as the employer finds them. The second is that employers are not responsible for idiopathic or purely personal conditions. Both maxims generally pertain to workers who have preexisting conditions, and both maxims […]
Basic Principles to Consider In Appeals from the Division of Workers’ Compensation
In every workers’ compensation trial both parties believe passionately in their position, but in the end, one party will prevail and one will lose. Inevitably, the losing party will have to consider whether to file an appeal. It is important to understand the appellate process, particularly the types of cases that stand a good chance […]
Fired Amtrak Employee Can Proceed To Jury Trial on Claim of Perceived Disability Discrimination
David Rollins worked for Amtrak for 23 years until August 2015 as a supervisor in North Brunswick, N.J. overseeing 20 employees performing track maintenance. His normal supervisor went on vacation, and Rollins experienced tension and stress with his temporary supervisor, Josh Newbold. Rollins reported to another supervisor, Semliatschenko, his concerns about safety due to what […]
Understanding Causation and Liability in Relation to Section 20 Settlements
New Jersey workers’ compensation has two kinds of settlements: those under Section 20, a full and final settlement, and those under Section 22, an accepted percentage of disability settlement with reopener rights retained by the petitioner. Section 20 settlements are popular with employers and carriers because they do not involve an admission of liability, and […]
Advantages of Telemedicine in Workers’ Compensation
Does telemedicine have a place in workers’ compensation? This practitioner was undecided on this question until a week ago when participating in a conference devoted to the benefits of using telemedicine in workers’ compensation. The presentation was offered by Concentra, and it made a strong case for telemedicine as a useful adjunct to workers’ compensation […]
Workers’ Compensation Injury Leads to Indefinite Suspension On Account Of Refusal Of Injured Worker To Submit to Medical Marijuana Drug Testing
Daniel Cotto worked as a forklift operator at Ardagh Glass in Bridgeton, N.J. On November 1, 2016, Cotto hit his head on the roof of a forklift at work. He was advised to see Premier Orthopedics in Vineland, N.J. for a medical examination, and a Premier Orthopedics doctor placed Cotto on light duty work with […]
Full Salary Provisions Under New Jersey Workers’ Compensation
Employees who are out of work due to work injuries or illnesses are eligible for temporary disability benefits at a rate of 70% of wages subject to an annual maximum. In 2018 that maximum is $903 per week. That means that the employee who earns $2,000 per week or even $20,000 per week is limited […]
The Two Minimum Rates in New Jersey Workers’ Compensation
Everyone knows that New Jersey has a minimum rate for temporary disability benefits, but it is not as widely understood that New Jersey also has a minimum rate for permanency. In 2018 the minimum rate for temporary disability benefits is $241 per week. But the minimum rate for permanency remains $35 per week, as it […]
Legislative Changes to New Jersey Workers’ Compensation
On August 24, 2018, Governor Murphy signed a bill that for all practical purposes ends the right of employers to make bona fide offers of permanent partial disability free of counsel fees. The statute that enabled employers to make bona fide offers within 26 weeks of maximal medical improvement, or return to work, whichever is […]
Understanding The Idiopathic Defense
We hear the term “idiopathic claim” quite frequently in workers’ compensation, but what does it really mean? To begin with, “idiopathic” is a combination of two Greek words: “idio” relating to “one’s own” and “pathic” suggesting suffering or disease. It has come to mean any disease or condition of unknown cause. Lawyers and practitioners have […]
Appellate Court Rejects Trucker’s Injury While Dressing After Showering During Trip From California to New Jersey
Samuel Kamenette drove over-the-road trucks for Sangillo & Sons. He was injured on October 9, 2015 in the State of Wyoming. He was driving a load from California to New Jersey. He slept the night before in his truck, and in the morning he drove for an hour to a Flying J, part of a […]
Liability Carrier’s Exclusion of Coverage for Workers’ Compensation Injuries Applies to Section 79 General Contractor Determinations of Employment
New Jersey has a sensible provision that protects employees of subcontractors who are injured on construction jobs. If an employee of a subcontractor is injured on a job, and the subcontractor has no workers’ compensation insurance, the injured employee becomes covered by the general contractor’s workers’ compensation policy. But what if the injured employee instead […]
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