Appellate Court Affirms Some Sanctions Against Employer and Reverses Other...
Sanctions against an employer in workers’ compensation are rather rare, and the case of Pschunder-Haaf v. Synergy Home Care of South Jersey, A-3138-13T3, (App. Div. May 12, 2015) provides some guidance...
View ArticleAppellate Court Explains How an Employer Can Protect Its Lien Rights by...
Employers are aware that if the claimant has not pursued his or her third party civil action within a year of the injury, the employer can provide a 10-day notice and then sue in the name of the...
View ArticleCDC Releases Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
Pain management has become a major health issue and cost driver in most state workers’ compensation programs with the proliferation of prescription opiates and consequential addictions arising from...
View ArticlePast Medical History Remains the Key to Controlling Costs in Workers’...
Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it, wrote George Santayana. In workers’ compensation, those who do not know the past are doomed to pay for it. Winning in workers’ compensation...
View ArticleFitness-For-Duty and Functional Capacity Exams: Important Tools in Reducing...
We have all seen this situation: an employee with a physical job has major surgery and is given restrictions by the treating doctor, who issues an MMI note (maximum medical improvement). When...
View ArticleWhen Should an Employer Order a Fitness-For-Duty or Functional Capacity Exam?
This is the second article devoted to fitness-for-duty examinations and Functional Capacity Exams (FCE) in workers’ compensation. The first segment focused on how such examinations can lead to...
View ArticleJudge of Compensation Rejects Medical Reimbursement Claim and Adopts Paid...
The New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation has thousands of medical reimbursement claims in various stages of negotiation and litigation. Few cases actually get tried because most medical...
View ArticleWorkers’ Comp Lien Applies to Medical Payments That Could Have Been Paid...
Ever since the decision in Dever v. New Jersey Mfrs. Ins. Co., No. A-3102-11T2, (App. Div. Oct. 23, 2013), plaintiffs’ counsel have been arguing that respondents do not have a lien for medical bills...
View ArticleWorkers’ Comp Lien Applies Even if PIP Benefits Are Not Recoverable Against...
On January 13, 2011, Paulette Dorflaufer was hit by a car while working as a part-time crossing guard for Livingston Township. She filed a workers’ compensation claim and filed a negligence law suit...
View ArticlePro or Con: Reducing Pay While Employee Is On Light Duty?
I received an excellent question today from a reader of this blog. The question was this: “I’m looking for some information on whether it is acceptable to bring an employee back for light duty at a...
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