A Capehart Scatchard Blog

Triennial Recalculation Issue Decided in Favor of Respondents and 2nd Injury Fund

By on December 26, 2018 in Awards, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

The Honorable Joshua Friedman decided an issue this month that has been pending for several years regarding calculation of the Social Security Disability offsets in workers’ compensation cases for petitioners under the age of 62.  A petitioner’s attorney had brought motions in five cases including one handled by our office, asserting that the SSD offset had been calculated incorrectly because the petitioner’s rate should change and increase every three years in accordance with rate changes in Social Security – the triennial recalculation.  While we do not normally write about cases decided in the Division of Workers’ Compensation, this case is an exception because it is the only decision that we know of in the state dealing with the issue of triennial recalculation.

The total and permanent disability provision of the workers’ compensation statute NJSA 34:15-95.5 indicates that offsets should be calculated in conjunction with the SSD statute 42 USC 424(a).  In most states, if a petitioner gets both SSD and workers’ compensation the SSD is reduced to insure that the petitioner does not earn more than his 80% average current earnings.  In a handful of states, including NJ, there is a “reverse offset” – if the combination of SSD and workers’ compensation is more than the 80% average current earnings (ACE), then the workers’ compensation rate is reduced, not the SSD.  This offset can make a total disability award very attractive monetarily for the respondent and the Fund.  This offset is only applicable for total and permanent disability resolutions.

The petitioner’s attorney had argued that since SSD re-determines the ACE every three years that workers’ compensation was required to do the same.  This would mean that every offset case would have the rate increased every three years by an amount determined by Social Security which takes in effect  national wage factors, inflation, cost of living etc.  The effect of the change that the petitioner was seeking would be to both increase the exposure for every total disability case for a worker under 62 and also insert uncertainty regarding the amount of the award.  Another potential issue is that any change in the NJ workers’ compensation statute regarding the offset could result in the loss of the “reverse offset” for the entire state, converting NJ to a state where Social Security, rather than workers’ compensation gets the offset.

The motions were pending for a very long time with multiple briefs provided by each party and testimony offered regarding legislative intent regarding NJSA 34:15 – 95.5. and Social Security.  In his decision, Judge Friedman stated that the triennial recalculation is essentially a cost of living adjustment , which was not contemplated by the Workers’ Compensation Act.  He also found important the fact that Social Security does not make triennial recalculations in reverse offset states.  He believed that the calculations that the petitioner’s attorney provided were merely  hypothetical, not official calculations from Social Security.  Judge Friedman also decided that the Supremacy Clause, which holds that Federal law pre-empts conflicting State law, was not applicable because there was no intent in the Federal law to “occupy the field” for payment of workers’ compensation disability benefits.

This decision is a very favorable outcome for the  respondents and the Fund.  A contrary decision would have been extremely disruptive to both pending total and permanent disability cases and potentially cases already settled or tried.  At this time we do not know if the case will be appealed. Claire Ringel of our office handled this case for respondent Burlington County. Please direct any questions regarding this issue to her.

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About the Author

About the Author:

John H. Geaney, Esq. is a Shareholder and Co-Chair of Capehart Scatchard's Workers' Compensation Group. Mr. Geaney began an email newsletter entitled “Currents in Workers’ Compensation, ADA and FMLA” in 2001 in order to keep clients and readers informed on leading developments in these three areas of law. Since that time he has written over 500 newsletter updates.

Mr. Geaney is the author of Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers. The Manual is distributed by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE). He also authored an ADA and FMLA Manual also distributed by NJICLE. If you are interested in purchasing “Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers,” please contact NJICLE at 732-214-8500 or visit their website at www.njicle.com.

Mr. Geaney represents employers in the defense of workers’ compensation, ADA and FMLA matters. He is a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers of the American Bar Association. He is one of two firm representatives to the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network.

A graduate of Holy Cross College summa cum laude, Mr. Geaney obtained his law degree from Boston College Law School.

Mr. Geaney was selected to the “New Jersey Super Lawyer” list (2005-2017, 2021 in the area of Workers’ Compensation). Only 5% of attorneys are selected to “Super Lawyers” through a peer nominated process based on independent research and peer evaluation. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. For a description of the “Super Lawyers” selection methodology, please visit https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html

For the years 2022-2024 Mr. Geaney was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® list in the practice area of Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers. The attorneys on this list are selected based upon the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. A complete description of The Best Lawyers in America® methodology can be viewed via their website at https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology.

*No aspect of this advertisement has been submitted to or approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Capehart Scatchard is a full service law firm with offices in Mt. Laurel and Hamilton, New Jersey. The firm represents employers and businesses in a wide variety of areas, including workers’ compensation, civil litigation, labor, environmental, business, estates and governmental affairs.

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