The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision stating that the state’s insolvent insurers fund was able to recover for workers’ compensation claims paid on behalf of high-net-worth insureds. In this case, Berkshire Bank argued that the Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund could not recover workers’ compensation payouts made on behalf…
In an appeal involving a defunct workers’ compensation self-insurer, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board held that a settlement agreement reached between a re-insurer and a bond holder was contrary to statute and invalid. Partly, the Board held the agreement was invalid because there was no notice to the…
The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, Reviewing Board, recently analyzed a case involving two insurance companies and an employee’s claim of a repetitive injury to his shoulder. The second insurance company, Federal Insurance Company, argued that the judge had erred when he transformed the employee’s allegation from one alleging a…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision earlier this year that affects settlements for injured workers pursuing compensation for their injuries. In the case of DiCarlo v. Suffolk Construction Co., Inc., which reviewed lower court rulings in two cases, the Court held that a workers’ compensation insurance company cannot…
The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, Reviewing Board recently affirmed a decision in favor of an injured employee. In this case, the court examined whether a medical report submitted after the close of evidence in the underlying hearing could form the basis of an ongoing award of section 35 benefits.…
The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, Reviewing Board, recently issued a decision in an appeal addressing whether an injured certified nurse’s assistant’s work-related injuries were due to an industrial accident or the result of previous injuries. The employer’s workers’ compensation insurer argued that an incident at work, the incident at…
In a recent opinion, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, Reviewing Board, reviewed a decision awarding benefits to an employee injured in the course and scope of her employment. One issue in this appeal was whether the judge had properly awarded the employee partial incapacity benefits based on an earning…
In this appeal before the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, the Reviewing Board recommitted a case in which the judge made inconsistent and contradictory findings. Specifically, the judge ruled on whether the employee stated a valid claim for benefits and medical treatment after suffering a compensable injury. The issue was…
The Massachusetts Reviewing Board of Industrial Accidents recently affirmed a decision in favor of an employee after the employer’s self-insurer attempted to reduce the payment owed after having reached a negotiated agreement. The Board relied on precedent in a similar case, stating that when an agreement is reached, and a…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently addressed the question of equity when an employer that is insured gives notice of a workplace injury to only one of two insurers, failing to notify the other. The court in this case held that when two workers’ compensation insurance policies cover the same loss for an employee’s injury, the…