If you are tired of being treated like a number, call The Law Offices of Melissa A. Day at (716) 616-0111
In Matter of Darcon Construction, Inc., 2011 NY Wrk Comp. G0223167, the Board stated that the liable carrier in an occupational disease situation would be the employer’s general workers’ compensation carrier, thereby relieving carriers on wrap-up policies of...
This was an established neck and back claim. The issue for litigation was further causally related lost time. The claimant sustained an unrelated motor vehicle accident in February involving various body sites, including her neck and back. As we reviewed the file,...
One issue that I have come across several times in my legal career is whether or not a claimant qualifies as an independent contractor or an employee. The Board Panel recently reviewed this issue in the case of Matter of Clare Hayduscko, 219 N.Y. Wrk. Comp. 40708094...
This was a claim which was established in 2018, where despite substantial opportunity with her own medical providers, the claimant failed to report that she had returned to work after the accident of this file. The issue was aggressively litigated for fraud, as the...
The claimant injured his back working as a mechanic for a car dealership. In November 2019 his wife’s niece requested on Facebook for recommendations for someone who could remodel her bathroom. The claimant’s wife responds that her husband, the claimant, is really...
Matter of Jacobi is a case that drastically altered how change in conditions for classified claimants are handled. If you recall, for a period of time once a claimant was classified their rate didn’t change to total – even if their doctor said they were totally...
Recently, we have been successful in getting claims dismissed for failing to comply with WCL Section 18. As part and parcel of those determinations, the Board has to make a determination that the employer was prejudiced by the late notice. It is the claimant’s...
What do you do when a claimant makes a claim for both noise-induced hearing loss AND traumatic hearing loss, under the theory of, “well, it’s gotta be one of those two,” and your Independent Medical Examination on causal relationship’s been precluded under §137? The...
This was a controverted claim by an employee for an alleged injury to the left knee. The issue for litigation which ultimately led to a disallowance of the claim was causal relationship. The claimant claimed to have injured his knee while working. The claimant did not...
In a Reserved Decision, Judge Balogun ruled that a claimant was not entitled to multiple SLU awards or loss of wage earning capacity as there was no permanency or schedule assignable for the injuries sustained. The claimant suffered work injuries to the neck, back and...
Brian K. Prince, Associate Attorney 10/14/2022 Who says that, other than a disallowance, a §32 is the only way to truly close a case? It’s not often that the overlap of two obscure sections of the Workers’ Compensation Law results in a full and final closure on a...
“[T]he doctrine of laches is applicable in workers' compensation proceedings when the remedy is equitable in nature.” Matter of Schroeter v Grand Hyatt Hotel, 262 AD2d 725 [3d Dept. 1999]. Apportionment is not an equitable remedy, and thus the doctrine of laches does...
Anyone else annoyed by claimants who were directed to wean two years ago that now continually file PARs for opioids? We did it! We were successful in obtaining a finding that the claimant should be weaned off their opioid narcotics. In some cases, the treating...
Successfully arguing the influential case of Burns v. Varriale, 9 N.Y. 3d 207 (2007), has been the highlight of Melissa Day's career as an attorney. You can now watch a video of the oral argument from this case - click here to watch the video. The video does require a...