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…
The Appeals Court of Massachusetts recently had before it an appeal from the decision of an administrative judge regarding a workers’ compensation benefit claim. In the case, In Re Hines’s Case, Mass. App. Ct. (2015), the plaintiff, an employee who had been working as a personal care attendant, slipped and broke…
In another recent proposal to reform Massachusetts workers’ compensation law, the Massachusetts Legislature recently held a hearing in which it heard testimony regarding a change that is designed to increase access to workers’ compensation benefits and medical care for injured workers. The proposal, Senate Bill 976, is designed to help…
In a concise opinion, the Massachusetts Appeals Court confirmed a lower court ruling regarding a wrongful termination following the commencement of a legal action related to a compensable workers’ compensation claim. At issue in Santarpia v. Senior Residential Care, Mass. App. Ct. (2014), was an employee’s allegation that she was wrongfully…
In a recent Massachusetts Appeals Court case, Galvao v. Lowe, Mass. App. Ct. (2014), the court ruled to affirm a summary judgment motion that was granted on behalf of the defendant in a case where the plaintiff was seeking damages in lieu of workers’ compensation benefits. The case involved a worker who…
Prior posts on this blog have discussed the fact that many workers who become injured in Massachusetts, in some cases even those who lose a limb, may not be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits or may not receive the level of compensation that they deserve. One category of injured workers that…
In a critically important recent case, Sebago v. Boston Cab Dispatch, Inc., Mass. Sup. Jud. Ct. (2015), the Supreme Judicial Court entered a decision on the issue of whether state wage laws are disharmonious with Rule 403, which extensively regulates the taxicab industry in Boston. At issue in the case was…
Workers’ compensation is a system that was designed to provide compensation for workers who become injured or sick due to their job. As a condition of availing themselves of the system, workers forfeit the right to pursue any other potential legal remedies under the common law, and the employer gives up any…
In a recent case related to workers’ compensation, Commonwealth v. Parker, Mass. App. Ct. (2015), the case arose out of a scenario in which the defendant was convicted by a jury of having purportedly misled a police officer engaged in a criminal investigation. The defendant appealed the decision, claiming that the…
In a recent workers’ compensation case, Riley v. City of Lynn, Mass. App. Ct. (2014), the court issued an opinion on the complicated area of the interplay of injured police officer benefits and retirement benefits. In the case, a police officer had incurred extensive injury to his mouth in the line…