Accelerating Permanency Payments Where There Is a Large Third Party Award
In the past month three clients have asked what they should do when there is a third party award larger than the comp award and the adjuster needs to pay a permanency award. For example: the claimant recovers $750,000 in a third party law suit. The total medical and temporary disability benefits are $150,000, and […]
Petitioner’s Claim Was Not Time Barred Because He Did Not Know the Precise Nature of His Medical Condition
New Jersey has a statute of limitations for occupational disease claims. In Rajpaul v. McDonald’s Corporation, A-4681-13T4 (App. Div. August 28, 2015), the proper application of the statute became the issue on appeal. In this case, the petitioner worked as a maintenance person from August 1995 until November 2005 at McDonald’s. He began to have […]
Law Firm Properly Terminated Support Services Assistant with Permanent Lifting Restrictions of No More than 20 Pounds
Charlesetta Jennings worked as a Support Services Assistant (SSA) at Womble Carlyle, a 500 lawyer firm based in North Carolina. Her job required performing a wide variety of tasks, including managing supplies, delivering or picking up packages, copying and scanning documents, setting up conference rooms, filing for receptionists, operating copy and scanning machines, and binding […]
Limousine Driver in Business not Unlike Uber Found to Be Independent Contractor
In a surprising decision that is particularly topical with various states facing similar issues with the popular company UBER, the Appellate Division held in Babekr v. XYZ Two Way Radio, A-3036-13T3 (App. Div. August 6, 2015) that a limo driver was not an employee when his vehicle was involved in a crash during the course […]
New Jersey School Board Did Not Violate FMLA When It Terminated Custodian Who Exhausted FMLA Time
Colleen Pizzo worked as a custodian for the Lindenwold Board of Education in Camden County, New Jersey. She went out of work beginning June 19, 2012 for depression. She filed the formal FMLA request on June 26, 2012. The Board approved the leave beginning June 19, 2012. While she was out, Pizzo requested an extension […]
Federal Court Rejects ADA Suit by Security Officer but Allows Workers’ Comp Retaliation Claim to Go to Trial
Patrick Vasnaik worked for Providence Health & Services – Oregon as a security officer from 2006 to 2012. His performance evaluations over the years fluctuated between requiring improvement to exceeding expectations. However, he required several coachings over the years for not arriving on time to work. In May 2010 he received a “documented coaching” after […]
Appellate Court Explains How an Employer Can Protect Its Lien Rights by Filing Suit in the Name of the Injured Worker
Employers are aware that if the claimant has not pursued his or her third party civil action within a year of the injury, the employer can provide a 10-day notice and then sue in the name of the injured worker. But what happens if the injured worker will not cooperate with the law suit? Can […]
Door Remains Closed to Suits by Employees Against Employers for Intentional Harm
In New Jersey it remains extremely difficult to bring an intentional harm claim against one’s employer. Mere knowledge and appreciation of a risk is not intent. That was the holding in Keller v. Township of Berkeley, A-5767-12T3 (June 22, 2015). Mr. Keller worked as a laborer for the Township sanitation department and suffered serious injuries […]
UPS Did Not Violate FMLA in Firing Employee Who Was on Intermittent FMLA Leave
Intermittent leave can be extremely difficult for employers. One important point for employers to realize is that an employee on intermittent leave who comes to work in between flare-ups may be held to all customary performance standards. The case of Parks v. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. 2014 U.S. DIST LEXIS 13538 (E.D. Kentucky 2014) […]
New Jersey Supreme Court Reverses Key Ruling by Appellate Court that Vested Original Jurisdiction on Employee Status With the Division of Workers’ Compensation
In 2014 an important appellate court decision was decided on whether all cases involving the interpretation of employee status must be referred to the Division of Workers’ Compensation. On June 11, 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Division in Estate of Myroslava Kotsovska v. Saul Liebman (A-89-13) (073861). The facts were tragic. […]
Section 20 Settlement Versus Order Approving Settlement
Every New Jersey workers’ compensation practitioner must evaluate the benefits of a Section 20, (which is a lump sum full and final payment), versus an order approving settlement, (which involves an award of a percentage of disability under Section 22). About twice as many cases settle under orders approving settlement in New Jersey than under […]
Appellate Court Affirms Some Sanctions Against Employer and Reverses Other Sanctions
Sanctions against an employer in workers’ compensation are rather rare, and the case of Pschunder-Haaf v. Synergy Home Care of South Jersey, A-3138-13T3, (App. Div. May 12, 2015) provides some guidance on conduct that may lead to such sanctions. The petitioner, Pschunder-Haaf, a home health aide, injured her low back when a patient fell on […]
Plaintiff’s Disability Discrimination Claim Doomed by Contradictory Statements to Social Security
Alphonso Myers worked as a security guard and was injured in that position. He applied for and received social security disability benefits. In his application, he advised the Social Security Administration that he was in pain all the time during the period of his application, he could only stand for twenty minutes and could only […]
Does New Jersey Have Something Similar to Partial Temp Benefits in Workers’ Compensation?
The old adage is that New Jersey is a not a partial temp state, but is that really true? In some states, like New Hampshire, an employee who returns to work but due to disability cannot earn the amount he or she was earning before the work injury may be eligible for significant benefits. The […]
Judge of Compensation Properly Denied Employee’s Request for Commutation of Settlement
Unlike many states, most settlements in New Jersey are paid out over a period of weeks, often with payments carrying out well into the future. For example, if an employee receives an award of 40% permanent partial disability, the award is paid over 240 weeks in equal payments beginning with the last payment of temporary […]
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