The Crucial Difference Between Impairment And Disability In Workers’ Compensation
Understanding the difference between “impairment” and “disability” is important in properly reserving files and in defending workers’ compensation cases. Many people use the terms synonymously, but there is an important legal distinction. An impairment refers to a problem with the structure or organ of the body. Disability focuses on the functional limitations that are caused by the […]
Governor Murphy Signs Legislation Clarifying Effective Date of Hand And Foot Bill
Earlier this year the new hand and foot bill became effective on January 21, 2020. This bill marked a significant change in the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act. The language was unambiguous in augmenting the number of weeks for injuries of the hand, foot and fingers. However, the language was less than clear concerning its […]
Proposed Bill to Require Carriers to Pay for Costs of Medical Marijuana Passes Committee While the New Jersey Supreme Court is Scheduled to Hear Oral Arguments on the Issue
The New Jersey Assembly Appropriations Committee passed A1708 on October 26, 2020, setting the stage for an eventual full Assembly vote on an important piece of legislation concerning the obligation of workers’ compensation carriers and automobile insurers to pay for costs of medical marijuana. Strangely enough, this Bill is being advanced at the same time […]
Appellate Division Rules Against Medical Providers In Jurisdictional Dispute Where Almost All Contacts Were In Pennsylvania And New York
An important decision came down today on an issue that concerns practitioners, employers, carriers and third party administrators. The decision is the first appellate level opinion on a long-running dispute over jurisdiction in certain MCP cases filed by medical providers in New Jersey. The decision is likely to affect hundreds of pending cases with similar […]
Judge of Compensation Can Order Petitioner to Reimburse An Employer Following Reversal of An Award by the Appellate Division
What happens when an order is entered against an employer to pay a workers’ compensation award and then respondent appeals the decision? Does respondent have to pay benefits pending appeal? If it does have to pay benefits during the appeal period, what happens if the Appellate Division reverses the award? Can respondent get a court […]
The Essential Workers Legislation In New Jersey: What It Means and What It Does Not Mean
On Monday, September 14, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed S2380 dealing with COVID-19 and essential workers in respect to workers’ compensation benefits. The bill was signed on the very last day before the bill would have automatically become law. It is important to consider what this bill does and what it does not […]
Update On Essential Workers And Hand And Foot Bills
Many readers have asked about the status of two very significant bills affecting New Jersey workers’ compensation practice. They are S2380 and A4134. S2380 – The Essential Employees Bill We are down to the wire on S2380. The Governor has until September 13, 2020 either to sign this bill or veto it; otherwise, S2380 will […]
The Crucial Importance of Investigating Subsequent Accidents
Workers’ compensation claims professionals know how important it is to ask about prior injuries in workers’ compensation. That information can bear directly on causation and will often lead to credits at the time of settlement. But an underrated area of investigation remains subsequent injuries that take place after the date of the workers’ compensation injury but […]
When Are Injuries That Occur At Work Not Covered By Workers’ Compensation?
There is a fairly widespread belief that any injury that occurs at work must be covered under workers’ compensation. But that is not true. There are several categories of injuries that happen at work which simply are not compensable. Injuries which do not arise out of employment are not covered in workers’ compensation. Not only […]
Respondents Can Reopen Cases Too
Employers and workers’ compensation professionals are very familiar with reopener petitions or applications for modification of awards. A reopener may be filed by the petitioner within two years of the last payment of indemnity benefits or the last authorized treatment date, but not many workers’ compensation professionals realize that employers can also apply for modification […]
Divided Supreme Court Upholds Right of Employer to Pursue Subrogation For Payment Of Workers’ Compensation Benefits Even Where Employee Cannot Sue Due to The Limitation-On-Lawsuit Option
One of the most significant cases for employers in many years is N.J. Transit Corp. v. Sanchez, 2020 LEXIS 520 (N.J. May 12, 2020). This decision is really a game changer for employers, carriers and third party administrators. The conventional wisdom has always been that if an injured worker cannot sue for personal injuries in […]
Governor Signs COVID-19 Accidental Disability Pension Law
A3945 was signed into law on July 1, 2020 by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. The law provides for both an accidental disability pension for an eligible member who becomes totally disabled from COVID-19 as well as a death benefit for eligible beneficiaries if the covered member should die from COVID-19. This new pension […]
Gathering Information to Make Decisions on Compensability of COVID-19 Cases
Employers, third party administrators and insurance carriers have for months been expending a great deal of time collecting information needed to make compensability decisions in respect to COVID-19 claims. There are many important questions to be asked in making such decisions. This blog focuses not so much on specific questions but on areas of inquiry. […]
Appellate Court Allows Employee To Reopen Terms Of A Consent Settlement To Reconstruct Wages
A recent unpublished case poses an unusual question: can a party to a consent settlement for a percentage of disability award reopen the case to dispute the rate that was agreed to in the settlement? The case is Calero v. Target Corporation, A-2650-18T3 (App. Div. June 10, 2020). Ms. Calero and Target Corporation agreed […]
Appellate Division Rejects Argument That Employee Was On A Special Mission And Was Compelled To Report To A Training Meeting
A key doctrine in the law known as “respondeat superior” provides that an employer is responsible for the acts of its employees performed within the course of their employment. Whether that doctrine applied to an employee who had a motor vehicle accident after being summoned to a training meeting was the issue in Samol v. […]
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