Reger v. Washington County Board of Education Archives

June 11, 2018 Disability Benefits / Maryland

Maryland’s Second Highest Court Recounts and Applies Critical Zakwieia and Reger Cases in Rendering New Opinion

The 2017 calendar year saw the introduction of two prominent cases addressing the offset afforded under Labor and Employment Section 9-610 and two simple words: “similar benefits.” Two cases, two words … little to no clarity. Now, 2018 has seen its first opinion from Maryland’s highest court addressing the critical statute governing disability benefits owed to covered employees of governmental units or quasi-public corporations.

A more complete analysis of the Zakwieia and Reger cases can be can be found in previous post. However, the …

October 30, 2017 Maryland

The Aftermath of Zakwieia and Reger — The Court of Special Appeals Finds LE §9-610 Offset Does Not Apply to Ordinary Disability Benefits for a Different Injury

In the past year there has been a flurry of litigation in Maryland regarding what exactly a “similar benefit” is, and when an offset is warranted under Labor and Employment § 9-610. We first had Zakwieia in early 2017, holding that a similar benefit is “whether the benefits provide a similar wage loss benefit to a workers’ compensation award, not whether the benefits accrue from a similar injury.” Zakwieia v. Baltimore Co. Bd. Of Educ., 231 Md. App. 644, 654 (2017). Just six months later …

October 6, 2017 Disability Benefits / Maryland

The Law Is Fickle – Maryland Court of Appeals Clarifies Zakwieia, the Phrase “Similar Benefits,” and its Effect on Disability Offsets

Recently, the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland (CSA) held that the phrase “similar benefits,” found within LE §9-610, examined whether an employee’s ordinary disability benefits provided a similar wage loss benefit to the employee’s workers’ compensation benefits. Zakwieia v. Baltimore County, Board of Education, 231 Md. App. 644 (2017). The practice of law is fast-paced and waits for no one. In Reger v. Washington County Board of Education, et al., 2017 WL 3317892 (publication pending), the Maryland Court of Appeals (COA) has …