Workers’ Compensation Law

Flight attendant, while flying as a passenger on flight from Denver to LaGuardia Airport, injured her knee. She resided in Boulder, CO, but her job duties were exclusively on flights originating out of JFK Airport. She was flying to New York the day prior to her scheduled work on a flight originating from JFK Airport. Airline did not compensate claimant for her time or expenses for commuting to NYC from Colorado. Claimant's decision to use a leisure travel pass to commute from Colorado to NYC did not transform her regular commute into a demand or exigency of her job.  Commission ruled correctly in finding that claimant did not qualify as a traveling employee at time of injury.(HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.)

Regardless of when an employer waives its workers' compensation lien, its contribution liability is always capped at the same amount.  Where employer's liability for contribution was determined by verdict after Plaintiff settled with underlying Defendants and received assignment of Defendants' contribution claims against employer, the employer's maximum contribution liability is still limited to amount of its workers' compensation obligation.(HOFFMAN and HALL, concurring.) 

Claimant worked as a stationary engineer for hospital, and sustained injuries to neck, low back, and left knee in work-related accident and can no longer perform job duties of stationary engineer; undisputed that claimant is permanently and partially disabled.  Commission had duty to admit and factor all evidence as to nature of claimant's post-injury employment with employer, not simply compare her pre- and post-injury wages. Commission had duty to factor other evidence as to positions available to claimant in competitive job market based on her restrictions and job skills and determine whether her disability has resulted in impairment of earning capacity.  (HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.) 

(Court opinion corrected 12/21/15.) Legislature intended “employment”, for purpose of calculating claimant’s average weekly wage, to mean the particular job a claimant was engaged in at time of injury, rather than continuous period of employment with a single employer.(HOLDRIIDGE, HOFFMAN, HARRIS, and STEWART, concurring.)

Circuit court properly imposed section 19(k) penalties and Section 16 attorney's fees against employer for its deliberate refusal to pay TTD solely based on employee having reported work accident 6 days after accident rather than on date of accident, although Worker's Compensation Act allows employees 45 days to report an accident. Employer's policy to not pay TTD benefits if accident is not reported on day it occurs is unreasonable, given Act's allowance of 45 days to report and also given that many injuries do not manifest themselves until later. (HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.)

(Court opinion corrected 12/11/15.) Police officer injured his back while loading his duty bag (weighing about 40 pounds) into his personal vehicle in preparation for reporting to police stations for work. Commission properly found that claimant sustained accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, and properly found that claimant established causal relationship between accident and back condition requiring surgery. Testimony in record establishes that duty bag contained items necessary for performance of job duties, and that as part of his job duties he was responsible for safekeeping of his duty bag, and keeping duty bag at home was acceptable to employer.  Thus, irrelevant that injury occurred while lifting it into his car at home. Commission was within its prerogative to find that accident aggravated or accelerated officer's preexisting back condition and was a causative factor resulting in his back surgery.(HOLDRIDGE and HOFFMAN, concurring; HUDSON and HARRIS, dissenting.)

Employee tripped and fell while taking trash to a dumpster, landing on his left hand and arm, and sustaining left wrist fracture. Arbitrator found that claimant sustained 5% loss of use of his left hand as a result of accident; Commission affirmed decision, and circuit court confirmed Commission's decision awarding permanent partial disability benefits. Commission is not required to automatically adopt treating orthopedist's reported level of zero impairment merely because parties submitted only one subsection (a) report. Commission properly weighed that report along with other factors listed in Section 8.1b(b). Evidence was sufficient to support Commission's findings as to each factor. (HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.)