A Capehart Scatchard Blog

Benefits

Respondent Defeats Alleged Claim of Aggravation and Motion for Medical and Temporary Disability Benefits Seeking Payment for Five Spinal Surgeries

By on January 2, 2024 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments
Respondent Defeats Alleged Claim of Aggravation and Motion for Medical and Temporary Disability Benefits Seeking Payment for Five Spinal Surgeries

Cases involving aggravation of preexisting conditions are quite common in workers’ compensation and are often complex.  Adequately addressing such claims requires obtaining the pre-accident medical treatment records and obtaining expert opinion on whether the work accident aggravated the prior condition. Donald Smith v. H & H Transportation, Inc., No. A-3568-21 (App. Div. December 20, 2023) […]

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Appellate Division Holds Employee Who Worked and Attended School Is Eligible for Temporary Disability Benefits After Unemployment Benefits Terminated

By on December 18, 2023 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

There are not many cases involving eligibility for temporary disability benefits while attending school. The case of Soto v. Hoosier Care, Inc., No. A-0507-22 (App. Div. December 11, 2023) discusses this issue directly. The facts in the opinion are threadbare, and the reader will have many more questions than answers after reading this decision. The […]

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Appellate Division Finds that Dismissal of Comp Case and Motion for Medical and Temporary Disability Benefits Violated Petitioner’s Due Process Rights

By on May 18, 2020 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

In the past few years there have been several unreported cases in which the Appellate Division has found a violation of the due process rights of respondent.  McGory v. SLS Landscaping, A-4837-18T2 (App. Div. May 8, 2020) presents the first reported case in many years on the violation of a party’s due process rights, in […]

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Does An Employer Owe Temporary Disability Benefits When An Injured Worker Returns To A Second Job But Is Unable To Return To The Injury-Connected Job?

By on November 21, 2019 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

Few scenarios generate more questions from clients than whether a carrier or third party administrator in New Jersey can cut off temporary disability benefits when an employee engages in part-time employment while receiving temporary disability benefits for the job-connected injury.   This is a much bigger issue than it was 30 years ago precisely because so […]

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Notice to Carriers, TPAs and Joint Insurance Funds: Requirements of New Supplemental Benefits Law For Dependents of Public Safety Workers

By on November 14, 2019 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

Effective June 17, 2019, N.J.S.A 34:15-95.6 became law in New Jersey.  This law applies to dependents of public safety workers, who are defined as officers of a paid, partially-paid, or volunteer fire or police department, force, company or district, including the State Police or a first aid or rescue squad.  The purpose of this law […]

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New Jersey Legislature Passes Supplemental Benefit for Certain Public Employees or Dependents of Those Employees

On February 25, 2019, the New Jersey Legislature voted to send to the Governor’s desk Senate Bill No. 1967.  The Senate passed the bill on October 29, 2018 and the General Assembly passed it on February 25, 2019. The Governor is expected to sign the bill shortly. The original bill was intended to provide a […]

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Judge of Compensation Denied Hospital Due Process Rights in Ordering Temp Benefits Without Motion for Med and Temp Ever Being Filed

By on December 21, 2017 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

Can a Judge of Compensation order a respondent to pay temporary disability benefits without a motion being filed in the first place?  The answer is no according to the decision in Munch v. Atlantic Health System, A-1265-16T1 (App. Div. December 21, 2017). Petitioner, Dana Munch, worked as a paramedic for Atlantic Health System (AHS) and […]

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Appellate Division Holds Statutory Volunteers Must Prove Actual Wage Loss In Order to Obtain Temporary Disability Benefits

By on December 13, 2017 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

After decades of confusion over the issue of paying temporary disability benefits to volunteer firefighters who have no outside jobs, practitioners finally received an answer from the Appellate Division in Kocanowski v. Township of Bridgewater, A-3306-15T2, (App. Div. December 11, 2017). The case involved a volunteer firefighter with the Finderne Fire Engine Company in Bridgewater […]

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Court Cannot Require Carrier to Pay Dependency Benefits Beyond 450 Weeks Even If Carrier Mistakenly Agreed to Pay Such Benefits at Time of Settlement

By on October 31, 2017 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments
Court Cannot Require Carrier to Pay Dependency Benefits Beyond 450 Weeks Even If Carrier Mistakenly Agreed to Pay Such Benefits at Time of Settlement

The case of Apperman v. Visiting Nurse Association of Westfield, A-5446-15T3 (App. Div. October 30, 2017) presented an unusual situation where a carrier agreed to pay benefits that exceeded its obligation under the statute.  The case involved the tragic death of Phyllis Apperman who died in a motor vehicle accident in December 2003. The claim […]

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When Are Drives To Physicians Covered Under Workers’ Compensation?

By on October 20, 2017 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments
When Are Drives To Physicians Covered Under Workers’ Compensation?

It is not uncommon for injured workers to suffer additional injuries due to car accidents on the way to a physician’s office or physical therapist’s office. So what are the rules in New Jersey on compensability? Q. Is the injured worker covered for workers’ compensation purposes in a car accident on the way to treatment? […]

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Why New Jersey Comp Law Holds That One Who Has Been Fired Is Not Entitled To Temporary Disability Benefits Unless He Or She Would Have Been Working Another Job

By on May 12, 2017 in Benefits, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

One of the most controversial issues in New Jersey workers’ compensation has to do with whether an injured worker who has been fired is entitled to temporary disability benefits.  The leading case is Cunningham v. Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co., 386 N.J. Super. 423 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 188 N.J. 402 (2006).   That case was […]

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