It has been an active 2019 for workers’ compensation decisions in New Jersey. There have been two New Jersey Supreme Court opinions and three reported Appellate Court opinions that are noteworthy.

Jon L. Gelman

From a review of the pending docket, the Supreme Court will be reviewing at least three very significant issues in 2020 invoking workers’ compensation issues.

Here's a look at the biggest decisions of 2019.

Supreme Court

Medical Treatment is an exclusive remedy, not a reasonable accommodation: The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that the provision of medical treatment does not equate to "reasonable accommodation." Therefore, an employee cannot claim under the Law Against Discrimination that failure to provide medical care was actionable. The provision of medical treatment is an exclusive remedy of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

Read more here.

An unpaid volunteer firefighter is entitled to workers’ compensation temporary benefits: The Supreme Court unanimously held that an unpaid and unemployed volunteered firefighter was entitled to temporary workers’ compensation benefits. The court, in reversing both the trial and appellate rulings, declared that volunteer firefighters have been conferred special status by the New Jersey Legislature and should be paid temporary disability benefits at the maximum rate without a seven-day waiting period, even if the injured volunteer firefighter was not holding outside employment at the time of the work-related injury.

Read more here.

Appellate Division

Employment relationship essential criteria for jurisdiction: Petitioner, a New Jersey resident, sought benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act (WCA), N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 to -128, alleging injuries both as the result of a specific incident and occupational injuries "while performing repetitive duties" as an aircraft technician while employed by United Airlines at the airport in Philadelphia. The judge of compensation dismissed both petitions for lack of jurisdiction.

Read more here.

Correct way to contest a lien: Attorneys should follow the correct procedures to contest a lien asserted by a workers’ compensation insurance carrier. A recent case provides instructions on the appropriate techniques.

Read more here.

Court has discretion to award counsel fee based on dependent's life expectancy: After awarding dependent benefits under N.J.S.A. 34:15-13 to the surviving spouse of a worker who succumbed to an occupational disease, the judge of compensation awarded counsel fees based on the spouse's expected lifetime in accordance with a 1995 amendment to N.J.S.A. 34:15-13(j) which provided that compensation shall be paid to a surviving spouse "during the entire period of survivorship," as determined from the table of mortality and life expectancy printed as Appendix I to the New Jersey Rules of Court.

Read more here.

Supreme Court cases to watch in 2020

Supreme Court to review application of exclusivity rule between social remedial legislation acts: The court will review two social remedial legislative acts to determine whether the exclusivity rule is applicable. The workplace legislation includes the Law Against Discrimination and the Workers’ Compensation Act. The court will determine whether a LAD claim is barred by the exclusive remedy of the WCA.

Read more here.

Six-year statute of limitations governs medical claims: In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeals held that medical provider claims for expenses in workers’ compensation claims are subject to a contractual six-year statute of limitations. The ruling will have a major impact upon the overburdened Division of Workers’ Compensation (NJDWC) system.

The NJDWC is already recognizing a soaring number of medical expense disputes, and it lacks a standardized adjudication process. The Legislature should establish a medical fee schedule and create a separate alternate dispute resolution (ADR) system to adjudicate the medical provider claims.

Read more here.

Medical reimbursement to insurance carrier: Can plaintiff, a workers’ compensation carrier, obtain reimbursement of medical expenses and wage loss benefits it paid from defendants (more specifically, the tortfeasors who negligently caused injuries to plaintiff’s employee in a work-related motor vehicle accident) if the employee would be barred from recovering non-economic damages from defendants because he did not suffer a permanent injury?

Read more here.

Claimants' attorney Jon L. Gelman is the author of "New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Law" and co-author of the national treatise "Modern Workers’ Compensation Law." He is based in Wayne, New Jersey. This blog post is republished with permission.