The Law Offices of Cass & Peters reversed a New York Workers’ Compensation Law Judge’s Decision denying a home health care worker’s right to New York Workers’ Compensation Benefits.

In a Full Board Decision of 5/28/15 which reversed the Law Judge’s finding that the incident that occurred in the course of the health aide’s employment was not work related since the home aide was unable to give a specific history on how she injured her knee. Based on the efforts of the Law Offices of Cass & Peters the Full Board reversed the law judge indicating that under the presumptions of the Workers’ Compensation Law, in New York, if an incident occurs at work there is a presumption that the injury was caused by a work event. The Full Board held that it was incumbent upon the insurance company to demonstrate that something not work related had caused the home health aides injury to her right knee.

Base upon this decision the health care worker is entitled to full benefits under the New York Workers’ Compensation Law. This would include medical care of a doctor of her own choosing and possibly an award for permanent damage to her knee.

A 67 year old gentleman who was employed for over 30 plus years as a bread delivery man sustained a serious right hand injury. The claimant required surgery on the hand and it was undisputed that he no longer had significant functional use of the right hand and would be unable to perform his job duties. An Administrative Law Judge found that the claimant was not entitled to any further benefits. This was affirmed by a Panel of the Board Review Bureau. We appealed to the Full Board which then overturned the decision below finding that an injured worker has a right to produce a vocational expert specifically on the issue of whether or not they are employable based upon not only their physical injuries but also based upon their past vocational experiences, education and whether or not that have transferable skills that would enable them to perform other types of work. Due to the efforts of The Law Offices of Cass & Peters the injured worker was found to be totally industrially disabled and would therefore be entitled to lifetime workers’ compensation benefits.

Check out our YOUTUBE CHANNEL and stay up to date with helpful articles and news on our BLOG PAGE.

In addition, we believe this decision stands for the principle that an injured worker has a right to produce a vocational expert on the issue of what is called their future earning capacity. Based upon this decision claimants will have a right not only to produce medical testimony to demonstrate what their earning capacity is but also vocational experts as well.