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Appellate Division Holds That Division Of Workers’ Compensation Has Jurisdiction To Decide Coverage Issue

By on August 23, 2011 in Key Defenses, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

Robert Tutelais a member of Earthworks Limited Liability Company and also one of its employees.  Earthworks is in the business of landscape construction.  In 2008 Earthworks through Tutela filed an application with Sentinel Insurance Company for workers’ compensation coverage.  Representations were made that Earthworks hired independent contractors to perform tree work and that all of the Earthworks employees performed their work at ground level. Based on additional representations by Tutela, Sentinel issued a workers’ compensation policy to Earthworks.

In June 2008 Earthworks contracted with Daystar-USM Exterior Services to remove 50 dead oak trees from a building site inToms River.  Tutela himself was seriously injured on June 27, 2008, falling from a bucket truck while he was pruning trees 35 feet off the ground.

Tutela brought a workers’ compensation claim and Sentinel disclaimed coverage “due to material misrepresentations made by the claimant himself as a member of the insured entity.”  Sentinel then filed a declaratory judgment claim in civil court seeking rescission of the policy because Sentinel said it would never have issued the policy but for Tutela’s misrepresentations. 

Meanwhile in the workers’ compensation action, the judge of compensation ruled for Tutela and ordered Sentinel to pay medical and temporary disability benefits.  The judge said that Sentinel could reserve its rights for reimbursement in the civil action.  The Uninsured Employers’ Fund, which was also a party to this claim, brought a motion to dismiss the civil action on the ground that the judge of compensation could determine whether Sentinel had to provide coverage. 

On September 16, 2008, the judge of compensation ruled that the policy was valid under the Workers’ Compensation Act but also suggested that it did not have jurisdiction to void the policy on the basis of misrepresentations. 

The issue on appeal was simply whether a judge of compensation has the power to hear an issue regarding the validity of an insurance policy and the voiding of a policy.  Sentinel did not believe the judge of compensation had such power, while Tutela argued that the judge of compensation did have this power. The Appellate Division cited a 1968 New Jersey Supreme Court case which suggested that a judge of compensation had power to pass on issues of coverage.  The Appellate Division agreed with the reasoning of ProfessorArthurLarson, Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law § 15004 (2010). 

The general rule appears to be that, when it is ancillary to the determination of the employee’s right, the compensation commission has authority to pass upon a question relating to the insurance policy, including fraud in procurement, mistake of the parties, reformation of the policy, cancellation, existence or validity of an insurance contract, coverage of the policy at the time of injury, and construction of extent of coverage.

Based on this analysis, the Appellate Division held that it was proper to transfer the issue of Sentinel’s right to rescission to the judge of compensation.  The court did not hold that the Law Division did not have such power but rather that it made more sense to vest both the compensation claim and coverage claim in one forum, namely the Division of Workers’ Compensation.  The court, therefore, reversed the judge of compensation’s ruling declining to consider the rescission issue. 

One of the key points in this case that the Appellate Division made was that Tutela was both a member of the Earthworks Limited Liability company and the injured employee.  On the subject of rescission based on misrepresentation, the court distinguished another case which involved a claimant who had no role whatsoever in obtaining the policy which was the subject of rescission. 

This is a reported case and is important because it takes an expansive view of the powers of judges of compensation.  The case makes sense because it promotes judicial economy and recognizes the expertise of judges of compensation.  The case can be found at Sentinel Insurance Company Ltd., v. Earthworks Landscape Construction, LLC and Robert Tutela, A-0748-10T1 (App. Div. August 16, 2011).

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About the Author

About the Author:

John H. Geaney, Esq. is a Shareholder and Co-Chair of Capehart Scatchard's Workers' Compensation Group. Mr. Geaney began an email newsletter entitled “Currents in Workers’ Compensation, ADA and FMLA” in 2001 in order to keep clients and readers informed on leading developments in these three areas of law. Since that time he has written over 500 newsletter updates.

Mr. Geaney is the author of Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers. The Manual is distributed by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE). He also authored an ADA and FMLA Manual also distributed by NJICLE. If you are interested in purchasing “Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers,” please contact NJICLE at 732-214-8500 or visit their website at www.njicle.com.

Mr. Geaney represents employers in the defense of workers’ compensation, ADA and FMLA matters. He is a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers of the American Bar Association. He is one of two firm representatives to the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network.

A graduate of Holy Cross College summa cum laude, Mr. Geaney obtained his law degree from Boston College Law School.

Mr. Geaney was selected to the “New Jersey Super Lawyer” list (2005-2017, 2021 in the area of Workers’ Compensation). Only 5% of attorneys are selected to “Super Lawyers” through a peer nominated process based on independent research and peer evaluation. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. For a description of the “Super Lawyers” selection methodology, please visit https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html

For the years 2022-2024 Mr. Geaney was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® list in the practice area of Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers. The attorneys on this list are selected based upon the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. A complete description of The Best Lawyers in America® methodology can be viewed via their website at https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology.

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Capehart Scatchard is a full service law firm with offices in Mt. Laurel and Hamilton, New Jersey. The firm represents employers and businesses in a wide variety of areas, including workers’ compensation, civil litigation, labor, environmental, business, estates and governmental affairs.

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