By:  Stephen Hessert Background Medicare came into being in 1935 as part of the original Social Security Act enacted by Congress.  It was described as “a federally funded health insurance program for the elderly and the disabled.”  Over the years, its cost became problematic and in the late 1970s, a General Accounting Office study suggested… Read more »

Average Weekly Wage The employee was employed by the same employer for 52 weeks prior to a December 17, 2014 injury, but for approximately 13 of those weeks she was out of work for non-occupational reasons and received STD benefits which were substantially lower than her customary weekly earnings.  The ALJ determined the average weekly… Read more »

Statute of Limitations Ten years ago the Law Court ruled in Wilson v. Bath Iron Works, 2008 ME 47, 942 A.2d 1237 that the two-year statute of limitations does not begin to run until the employer files a First Report of Injury, regardless of how much time may have passed since the injury occurred.  In… Read more »

Waiver of Issues The employee filed a Petition for Award resulting from a December 8, 2015 injury to her neck and left hand.  She also filed a Petition for Reinstatement.  She had not worked for the employer since the date of injury, and a dispute arose as to whether the employer had offered her suitable… Read more »

It has been recognized in several Law Court decisions that, generally speaking, there is no right to recover an overpayment of workers’ compensation benefits by taking an offset or by claiming reimbursement.  However, in a significant new decision, the Court has held that an employer is entitled to a credit for the value of Social… Read more »

It had been determined by the Board that the employee sustained a gradual occupational injury to his right elbow on October 29, 2000.  Several years later the employee filed a Petition for Award alleging a second gradual injury to the same portion of the body occurring on May 8, 2009.  There was conflicting medical evidence… Read more »

When parties reach agreement at mediation and the issues agreed to are reflected in the record, the record is fully binding upon the parties and has the effect of a final Board determination.  However, when no agreements are reached and the mediation is considered unresolved, the record itself has no res judicata effect. In Karimova… Read more »

In its final decision of 2017 an en banc panel of the Appellate Division consisting of seven ALJs unanimously denied an appeal brought by an employee in a case in which a claim of a gradual mental injury had been denied.  In Henderson v. Town of Winslow, Me. W.C.B. No. 17-46 (App. Div. 2017), the… Read more »

In its second workers’ compensation opinion of the year, the Law Court has addressed determination of employment status in a unique factual context.  In Huff v. Regional Transportation Program, 2017 ME 229 (December 12, 2017), the petitioner volunteered as a driver for a non-profit agency which provided transportation services to disabled and low-income clients.  At… Read more »