Enhanced Legal Presumptions Do Not Make Sense For Pandemic-Related Claims
Proposed Senate Bill 2380 sponsored by New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney seeks to create a new legal presumption of compensability for “essential employees,” including public safety workers and virtually all health care workers who file COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims. This proposed presumption would require the Judge of Compensation to presume that any COVID-19 claim […]
Policy Holder Made Material Misrepresentations To Its Workers’ Compensation Carrier Warranting Finding Of Fraud Under N.J.S.A. 34:15-47.4
N.J.S.A. 34:15-79(a) is the source of considerable litigation in workers’ compensation. It provides that “Any contractor placing work with a subcontractor shall, in the event of the subcontractor’s failing to carry workers’ compensation insurance as required by this article, become liable for any compensation which may be due an employee or the dependents of a […]
Preventive Actions Do Not Trigger Temporary Disability Benefits In Comp and New Paid Emergency Sick Leave Act For Coronavirus For Employers With Less Than 500 Employees Effective April 1, 2020
Let me begin with a correction to a prior blog. A few weeks ago I wrote in a blog about a hypothetical scenario where an employer requires an employee to be quarantined because the employee was exposed to a fellow employee who tested positive for COVID-19. Several readers wrote to disagree that the period of […]
The Brave New World of Telecommuting and Workers’ Compensation
In response to the world-wide coronavirus epidemic, one of the most remarkable societal changes taking place in America today is the ubiquitous transition from working in an office to working from home. The deadly coronavirus is forcing this change, but many think that even when this crisis passes, American businesses will start to reevaluate the […]
New Jersey Workers’ Comp Courts Set for Limited Reopening April 6th
The New Jersey Workers’ Compensation court calendars were suspended March 17, 2020 through April 3, 2020. On Monday, March 30, 2020, the Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, Hon. Russell Wojtenko, Jr. advised in a Notice to the Bar that a limited reopening will occur on Monday, April 6, 2020 to permit telephonic case […]
New Jersey Supreme Court Permits Plaintiff To Proceed With His LAD Law Suit Alleging He Was Wrongfully Terminated For Legal Use of Marijuana Under The Compassionate Use Act
Justin Wild, a licensed funeral director, was diagnosed in 2015 with cancer and was prescribed marijuana under the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. In May 2016 Wild was working a funeral when his vehicle was struck by another vehicle that ran a stop sign. Wild advised a treating doctor at the hospital that […]
Why It Is Important To Understand Legal Causation In Workers’ Compensation
The concept of legal causation is fundamental to master in handling claims. If there is no legal causation, the claim should be dismissed. The claimant must prove an accident which arises from the employment. There must be a work connection. When a case poses a serious issue of legal causation, the most common mistake is […]
Transportation Issues in Workers’ Compensation
Adjusters and employers familiar with other state workers’ compensation laws are often surprised to find out that the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act contains no statute requiring employers to pay for transportation costs to get employees to medical appointments and no mileage reimbursement provision. When an employer requires an injured worker who has moved out […]
Questions Remain On Which Cases Are Affected By The New Hand And Foot Bill
The recently passed legislation L. 2019, C. 387 increasing the value of hand and foot injuries in New Jersey has generated considerable debate about which cases the law affects. Does it affect only cases filed after the date the law was passed? Or does it affect all cases presently pending in the Division of Workers’ […]
Medical Providers Win in Supreme Court on Statute of Limitations Issue
In New Jersey a medical provider dispute arising from a work injury can only be filed in the Division of Workers’ Compensation ever since the 2012 Amendments. But the 2012 Amendments to the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act failed to answer one fundamental question: how long does the provider have to bring a claim in […]
Governor Passes Bill Increasing Compensation for Workers’ Comp Hand And Foot Injuries
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy this week signed into law the long-considered hand and foot Bill, increasing the amount of workers’ compensation benefits paid for injuries producing loss of function for such injuries. The Bill accomplishes the legislature’s goal of providing greater compensation for hand and foot injuries by increasing the number of weeks that […]
Appellate Division Holds New Jersey Employer Must Reimburse Injured Worker for Cost of Medical Marijuana
This week the New Jersey Appellate Division decided Hager v. M&K Construction, A-0102-18T3 (App. Div. January 13, 2020). The issues of whether an employer must reimburse an injured worker for the costs of medical marijuana and whether such a court order would violate federal law have been the source of much controversy in the Division. […]
Court Rules That Inability To Understand The English Language May Form the Basis For Total Disability Under The Odd-Lot Doctrine But Also Finds Petitioner’s Proofs To Be Lacking
There are few appellate division cases on the odd-lot doctrine in workers’ compensation, and there are next to none on lack of proficiency in English as a sole factor for odd-lot unemployability. For this reason it is worth reviewing the recent decision in Avendano v. Target Corporation, A-1609-18T2 (App. Div. December 17, 2019). In this […]
Jurisdictional Issue in Med Mal Decision In New Jersey May Presage Likely Dismissal of MCP Cases Arising from New York Injuries and New York Employment
In 2020 we will likely get a published Appellate Division decision that resolves whether a medical provider can bring a medical claim petition in New Jersey where virtually all contacts are in New York State except for where the surgery occurs and sometimes where the claimant lives. One hint of how the Appellate Division may […]
First NJ Workers Compensation Appellate Opinion On Opioid Use Is Approved For Publication
The case of Martin v. Newark Public Schools was the subject of an earlier blog on October 7, 2019. At the time of that blog, the case had not been approved for publication. On December 13, 2019, the Committee on Publications decided to approve Martin for publication. It is now the only published decision in […]
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