In Joao Deoliveira v. Calumet Construction Corp., et al., the Reviewing Board of the Department of Industrial Accidents considered an appeal by an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company of a decision ordering it to pay § 18 benefits to an employee who was injured while working for an uninsured sub-contractor…
The Massachusetts Court of Appeals recently reviewed a workers’ compensation appeal from a decision of the reviewing board of the Department of Industrial Accidents, In re Sosa’s Case. The employee appealed the board’s order summarily affirming the administrative judge’s denial of the employee’s claim for incapacity and medical benefits. On May…
In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board affirmed a judge’s determination of average weekly wages in a workers’ compensation dispute. The employee had sustained an injury to his wrist while working as a package handler for Federal Express. Along with his employment at FedEx, the…
In an appeal filed by the employer’s insurer, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board affirmed an administrative judge’s award of workers’ compensation benefits pursuant to §§ 13, 30, 34, and 34A to an employee injured while working on the job. On August 31, 2011, the employee sustained a…
The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board reversed an administrative judge’s award of workers’ compensation benefits that utilized an average weekly wage based on the higher wages the employee would have earned in a new position, rather than based on the previous 52 weeks of wages she earned before her workplace injury.…
In a decision by the Reviewing Board of the Department of Industrial Accidents, an administrative judge’s modification of workers’ compensation benefits from partial to permanent and total incapacity was found to be unsupported by evidence of a change in the employee’s condition. The Board reversed the administrative judge’s order, due…
In a newly published opinion, Merchants Insurance Group v. Spicer, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts decided the issue of whether a workers’ compensation insurer may file an action in Superior Court to retroactively void an employer’s policy while an injured employee’s benefits claim under the policy is pending with the…
In a recent workers’ compensation case involving supervisor misconduct, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of the reviewing board of the Department of Industrial Accidents awarding double compensation benefits pursuant to § 28 of the Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Act. The court agreed with the board’s finding that the…
In a newly released opinion, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts analyzed the issue of whether a staffing company’s workers’ compensation insurance policy precludes a temporary worker from suing his direct employer while on assignment for the staffing company. In Molina v. State Garden, the plaintiff was employed by a company that provides…
A recent opinion released by the Appeals Court of Massachusetts, In re Driscoll’s Case, affirmed the decision of an administrative judge denying ongoing total incapacity benefits to an employee. The workers’ compensation case arose out of the employee’s claim that he suffered a work-related back injury in 2003. The self-insured…