Limited Reopening of New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Court Set For April 6th

The Director of the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Court has announced a limited reopening set for April 6, 2020. The Director previously announced that all courts would be closed from March 17, 2020 to April 3, 2020 on the heels of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Courts will conduct telephonic conferences on a limited basis for all emergent matters and some non-emergent matters. This will include trials, motions for medical and temporary disability benefits, settlements by affidavit, and pretrial conferences.

Goldberg Segalla will continue to update you …

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Post-Accident Drug Testing: Part 1 — New Jersey

For New Jersey, a post-accident drug test can be helpful. In an unreported decision, the Appellate Division found that an injured employee terminated after he was placed on light duty, due to a failed drug test, is not automatically entitled to temporary disability benefits. Gioia v. Herr Foods, Inc., No. A-0667-10T4 (App. Div. Oct. 11, 2011). The employer provided testimony that it would have offered the injured employee light duty if not for the failed drug test. Since the lost income was not a …

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Is That Offer Bona Fide?

Did you know that a voluntary offer to settle a workers’ compensation claim in New Jersey must meet three specific criteria to comply with state law?

  1. The offer must meet the 26-week rule — this means the offer must be made within 26 weeks of the last active treatment or return to work, whichever is later.
  2. The letter to the petitioner must explain the weekly payments are meant to be a bona fide offer of permanent disability. The start and end dates of the benefits
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Lessons from Daniel

On August 2, 2016, the Appellate Division upheld a Judge of Compensation’s denial of a petitioner’s motion for medical treatment and temporary disability benefits. In upholding the Division’s decision, the Appellate Division agreed that the petitioner had not met his burden of proof that the need for surgery arose from and was causally connected with the same trauma complained of in the original claim petition. Daniel v. United Arlines, No. A-1252-14T3 (App. Div. August 2016).

The petitioner in Daniel sustained a compensable accident in …

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Appellate Division Provides Clarity: Medical Expenses are Recoverable by Workers’ Compensation Carriers under Section 40

The Appellate Division issued a published decision on August 24, 2016 confirming the right of workers’ compensation insurers to recover medical expenses from the proceeds of any recovery the worker obtains from a third-party tortfeasor under Section 40 of the Workers’ Compensation Act, N.J.S.A. 34:15-40. The decision, Lambert v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America, No. A-1073-14T3, __ N.J. Super. __, __ (App. Div. 2016), offers welcome clarity concerning reimbursement of medical payments under Section 40.

Following the unpublished 2013 decision of Dever v.

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