February 04, 2008 : Judge Denies Total Workers' Compensation Claim
A New Jersey Workers' Compensation Judge recently denied a 44-year-old bank manager's claim for total disability. Partner Jeffrey D. Newby defended a Claim where the employee was the victim of a pistol-whipping during the course of an armed bank robbery on December 29, 2000. The petitioner's Claim for depression/post-traumatic stress was accepted as compensable and he received wage loss benefits and authorized psychiatric care. After six years of treatment, the authorized doctor concluded that petitioner was totally disabled and could not return to any form of work due to anger outbursts, depression and an inability to concentrate. The petitioner then filed a Claim seeking an award of total and permanent disability.
Mr. Newby defended the claim with an expert who saw the petitioner on only two occasions and challenged the opinion of the employer’s authorized psychiartrist and another hired psychiatric expert for petitioner. The defense was able to establish that the authorized doctor had lost his objectivity and the petitioner was indeed employable. The Judge denied the totality claim and awarded the petitioner only 45 percent of total.
File Under: Results, Workers' Compensation, Jeffrey D. Newby