Experience

• Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances. 

• Prevailed in a carrier versus carrier case where Review and Joinder Petitions were filed by the Claimant’s employer, a subcontractor, and its insurance carrier. The subcontractor sought reimbursement from, and a shifting of all or a pro-rata share of future liability to the general contractor and its insurance carrier pursuant to a “wrap-up” workers’ compensation insurance policy. Under the policy, the general contractor agreed to provide workers’ compensation benefits to employees of subcontractors, but only when injured on the project site. Any injuries occurring off the project site were to be covered by the subcontractor’s workers’ compensation policy. The case was complicated by the fact that both carriers utilized the same TPA, raising questions as to how coverage decisions were made. The subcontractor did not dispute that the Claimant’s injury occurred off-site, but argued there may have been other instances in which general contractor paid for an injury that occurred off-site, thereby precluding the general contractor’s denial of liability based on past practice. The subcontractor subpoenaed records from the general contractor, seeking a review of any and all claims paid. We objected to the subpoena as overly broad and unduly burdensome given the scale of the project at issue, and asserted that the subcontractor was estopped from denying liability based on the clear and unambiguous language of the underlying policies. The WCJ sustained our objection to the subpoena of general contractor’s file and denied the subcontractor’s Review and Joinder Petitions on the merits.

• Successfully defeated a claim petition for psychological injuries. The Claimant, a third-shift cashier at a convenience store, alleged that she sustained PTSD and anxiety following two armed robberies. While the medical experts in the case acknowledged that Claimant had evidence of work-related PTSD, the WCJ found that Claimant failed to provide timely and adequate notice of the work injury, and so denied the Claim Petition. Claimant appealed and the WCAB affirmed the WCJ’s Decision.