Bronx Workers Compensation Lawyer Near Me

The Appellate Division recently dealt with the issue of prior schedule loss of use awards to the same body part. In that recent case, the injured worker, a patient care technician, slipped and fell on ice in February of 2006. He injured both knees and had a surgery to each knee. Then, in 2009, the same worker had another accident at work and filed a workers comp claim. In that 2009 case, the worker injured both hips but not the knees. The Board awarded the worker a 52.5% SLU to the right leg. It also awarded a 50% SLU to the left leg. Both percentages in the 2009 case were due to hip injuries only. The same worker then litigated the issue of SLU to the knees on his 2006 case.

The workers compensation Law Judge found the claimant to suffer from an 80% SLU to the left leg and a 40% SLU to the right leg on the 2006 case. Both of these percentages were due to injuries to the knees only, not the hips. The Law Judge then reduced that award based on the prior SLU awards given on the 2009 case. The Judge noted that the knees and hips are not eligible for separate SLU awards. They are both part of the legs for the purposes of workers comp awards. The Judge then reduced the 80% SLU to the left leg by 50% (the prior award on the 2009 case). Also, because the prior award percentage to the right leg in the 2009 case exceeded the 40% SLU given in the 2006 case, the worker received no additional compensation for that leg.