permanent partial disability (PPD) Archives - Workers' Compensation Defense

Giving 110 Percent: Apportionment in Classification Claims

Workers’ Compensation Law (WCL) Section 15 outlines the schedules of compensation payable to the claimant upon a determination that the claimant is disabled—permanent total, temporary total, permanent partial, and temporary partial. Specifically, WCL Section 15(3)(w) pertains to claims of permanent partial disability that are not amenable to a schedule loss of use or disfigurement findings, commonly referred to as classification cases or LWEC cases.

Beginning in 2007, the legislature amended the WCL as it pertains to classification cases. Previously, upon a finding of permanent disability, …

June 4, 2019 New York / permanent partial disability

The Carriers’ New Tool: Jacobi Medical Center

There are very few concepts under the New York Workers’ Compensation system that are in favor of the employer and carrier. Once a claim is established, employers and carriers have few tools on their side to even the playing field in the claimant-friendly world of workers’ compensation. In appropriate situations, for example, employers and carriers can litigate the issues of labor market attachment, fraud under WCL 114(a), and further causally related disability.

In February 2019, a board panel decided the case of Jacobi Medical Center…

April 22, 2019 Disability Benefits / permanent partial disability / Permanent Total Disability / Schedule Loss of Use

SLU or Not to SLU- That is the Question

Claimants may be entitled to schedule loss of use (SLU) awards for permanent injuries sustained to arms, legs, hands, feet, eyes, fingers, and toes, known as “schedule injuries.” Injuries sustained to the head, neck, and back, known as “nonscheduled injuries,” are typically subject to classification of a permanent partial disability (PPD) or permanent total disability (PTD), based on loss of wage earning capacity. An issue arises when a claimant has injuries to schedule and nonscheduled sites.

In 2018, the New York State Supreme Court Appellate …

February 12, 2019 Disability Benefits

Is the Labor Market Attachment Forever Over?

As of 2017, a claimant with a permanent partial disability (PPD) who is entitled to awards when they are classified does not have to demonstrate ongoing labor market attachment (LMA). The mentality since the change in 2017 has been that if a claimant is entitled at classification then there is no way to bring up LMA in the future.

Prior to the 2017 reform, from December 23, 2010 through February 1, 2012, the Third Department Decision in the matter of Zamora (12/23/10), controlled labor market …