If you are tired of being treated like a number, call The Law Offices of Melissa A. Day at (716) 616-0111
Rick Costner, Sr. honors the life of his 18 year old son and co-worker, Ricky Costner Jr., after he was murdered in front of him at work by creating and raising funds for the Ricky Costner Jr. College Scholarship Fund I have had the pleasure of attending a benefit at...
On October 24, 2017, the Court of Appeals in American Economy Insurance Co. v. State of New York, — N.E.3d —-, 2017 WL 4779421 (N.Y. Ct. of App., Oct. 24, 2017), effectively marked the end of The Fund for Reopened Cases by holding the 2013 amendment to WCL § 25-a is...
Happy Friday the 13th to all! First off, I would like to introduce myself, as this is my first contribution for this blog. My name is Rob Caggiano, and I was recently brought into the LOMAD family as a Law Clerk as I await my bar results and (hopefully) my pending...
In a stunning sua sponte reversal of its prior decisions, the Board has found that the Medical Treatment Guidelines apply to out of state treatment. In the case, Hospice Inc., WCB# 5951 3410, the workers compensation law judge found objections to medical treatment in...
By – Melissa A. Day and James B. Cousins Right now, WCL §35 is a unknown quantity for WC practitioners. Section 35(3) allows for an “Extreme hardship redetermination” which allows any claimant, classified with an LWEC of “greater than 80 percent” to apply “within the...
The Board’s now-longstanding process re-engineering has hit on some very good ideas (Desk 32s for example) and some duds (Binding Arbitration). That being said, at their own admission, the Board has been seeking out cases where hearings are unnecessary and trying,...
It’s the Holiday Season! Pay Your 32s Early Without Worry! (Or Another Rhyme at Christmas Time) Workers’ Compensation Settlements rev up this time of year; claimants and carriers/SIEs are looking to close files and the volume of 32 approvals from October through...
HAPPY HALLO-WEAN! Today the Board issued Subject Number 064 – 892 which creates a “hearing process” for addressing opioid weaning issues. In support of this new process the Board recognizes that the Non-Acute Pain Medical Treatment Guidelines clearly indicate that...
TO WEAN, OR NOT TO WEAN, THAT IS THE QUESTION. The Board Panel, in a recent October 2016 Decision, considered the issue of whether a Claimant’s opioid medications were appropriate. Significantly, in this case the claimant was classified with a permanent total...
THE NEWLY REOPENED FUND FOR REOPENED CASES – THE FIRST DEPARTMENT DECLARES THE RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF 25-A UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Yesterday, in a dramatic reversal, the First Department declared retroactive application of the sunsetting of the Fund for Reopened Cases...
As everyone probably knows, Workers’ Compensation Law §21(4) presumes that a work-related accident isn’t only due to an employee’s intoxication on the job, unless there is substantial evidence to the contrary. Workers’ Compensation Law §10(1) similarly says that an...
The issue of apportionment is confusing. Many attorneys apply the wrong standard, the wrong timing, or both which can lead to a hodgepodge of contradicting decisions by Judge’s and also sometimes by the Board. One type of apportionment is “legal apportionment.” ...
There have been several cases recently where Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (“CTS”) was determined by providers as causally related to the accident of record in the file. At first, this determination of causal relationship seemed pretty straight forward, but a “deep dive”...
It’s well known in the Workers Compensation community that the threshold for meeting Prima Facie Medical Evidence (PFME) is extremely low. However, one argument that the Board has found to be quite compelling, is that “pain” is not an injury. There have been some past...