In a recent appeal before the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Review Board, the workers’ compensation insurer for the employer argued that the employee’s back surgery was not causally related to his work injury. In this case, there had been a discrepancy of facts supporting the judge’s decision to award…
In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Review Board addressed whether a judge’s decision denying an injured employee’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits could be upheld when medical evidence submitted by the parties had not been considered, including the employee’s most recent disability opinion. After suffering an…
In a decision involving the successive insurer rule, the Massachusetts Reviewing Board of the Department of Industrial Accidents held that a medical opinion must support a finding of causality between an injury and compensability and that the evidence in the case at hand indicated the injured worker’s incapacity was due to an industrial…
Under Massachusetts law, employees who suffer work-related injuries may be entitled to benefits and medical costs. Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance that provides reimbursement for medical costs, reduced wages due to a disability, and other coverage, such as job retraining. In addition to state law, the federal government…
Recently, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, Reviewing Board affirmed a judge’s decision to continue an award of section 34A permanent and total incapacity benefits, according to Massachusetts workers’ compensation laws, to an injured auto mechanic. The workers’ compensation insurer for the worker’s employer had moved to modify or discontinue his…
At issue in a recent appeal before the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board was whether an employee was entitled to benefits for being partially and totally disabled while undergoing vocational rehabilitation training. The workers’ compensation insurer in this case appealed a decision that denied its complaint to modify or…
At issue in an appeal before the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board was whether the judge had applied the proper analysis of employment status in determining that a workers’ compensation claimant was an independent contractor, who was not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits following a work-related injury. The…
The Massachusetts Reviewing Board of of Industrial Accidents recently reviewed a decision involving a judge’s allegedly harmful reliance upon medical opinions to modify a workers’ compensation award. Modification benefits must be grounded in evidence showing that the employee’s medical or vocational status changed. In this case, the employee appealed a…
In an appeal involving issues of causation, the Massachusetts Reviewing Board of Industrial Accidents stated that the judge had committed harmful error by mischaracterizing the evidence, leading to inconsistent findings. The psychological injuries suffered by the employee in this case had allegedly resulted from physical harm due to a work…
Massachusetts law requires that an impartial medical examiner examine the claimant when there is a dispute within a workers’ compensation claim over medical issues that serves as the subject of an appeal. At the time of the appeal, the workers’ compensation claimant must submit payment of an average weekly wage…