A recent decision by a Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board, King v. APA Transport, Inc., No. 030256-99 (June 18, 2015), affirmed an administrative judge’s order requiring the insurer to pay an employee medical benefits pursuant to M.G.L.A. 152 §§ 13 and 30. The insurer appealed to the Reviewing…
The Massachusetts Appeals Court released an opinion, In re Evans’ Case, reversing the decisions of the Department of Industrial Accidents and the administrative judge denying a worker’s claim for partial incapacity benefits under G.L. c. 152 § 35. While working at his job with a construction company, the employee suffered…
The Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board recently filed a decision addressing the issue of whether income earned from a second job at the United States Postal Service (USPS) may be included in the calculation of the employee’s average weekly wage for purposes of workers’ compensation benefits. The employee worked…
In an opinion from the Appeals Court of Massachusetts released earlier this year, In re Hollow’s Case, the Appeals Court discussed the seemingly inconsistent decision of an administrative judge in granting an employee’s medical services claim while discontinuing his workers’ compensation benefits under § 34. The employee was injured while…
The Appeals Court of Massachusetts recently affirmed a decision of the Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board, In re Wicklow’s Case, 32 N.E.3d 369 (2015), which found that an employer’s acts caused the exacerbation of an employee’s pre-existing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As such, the employee was awarded workers’ compensation…
The Appeals Court of Massachusetts issued a recent opinion, In re Gayle’s case, 87 Mass.App.Ct. 1129 (2015), affirming the reviewing board’s decision to deny benefits in a workers’ compensation case. On appeal was the issue of whether new medical opinions offered by the employee could overcome the preclusive effect of…
In a recently released opinion, In re Richards’s case, App. Ct. Mass. (2015), the Appeals Court of Massachusetts had before it an issue of whether the doctrine of res judicata barred the employee’s claim. The case stemmed from an alleged injury that occurred in December 2003. In May 2005, the employee…
In a recent opinion, Marchand v. Department of Correction, Mass. App. Ct. (2015), the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently heard an appeal from a trial court decision, which found that the plaintiff was entitled to continue to receive assault pay benefits for as long as he also received workers’ compensation benefits. The issue…
According to a statement made by the Massachusetts Attorney General this week, the owner of an asbestos abatement company was allegedly indicted this month and will face arraignment next month in connection with purportedly failing to report the nature of his company’s work accurately, in order to avoid having to pay…
Although all workers’ compensation benefits require that the injury occur during the course of employment, injuries do not necessarily have to be physical in order to be compensable. Benefits can also be temporary or permanent, depending on the severity of the injury. Workers’ compensation benefits used to require a physical…