Year: 2020

THERE IS NOW A THIRD BASIS FOR MASSACHUSETTS JURISDICTION Mark Mendes’s Case, Mass., SJC-12857, slip op. (Oct. 29, 2020) Newly-nominated Chief of the SJC Justice Kimberly Budd has expanded Massachusetts Jurisdiction beyond the former constraints of where the contract of employment was made and where the injury occurred to now include the “location of the employment relationship.” This third test…

SOME IMPORTANT NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACT DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR THIRD-PARTY REIMBURSEMENTS. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed in Wright’s Case, a Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board decision that denied an employee reimbursement from his Workers’ Compensation insurance company for medical marijuana expenses to treat chronic pain stemming from two prior work-related…

We are advised that the Massachusetts Maximum Compensation Rate is $1,487.78 for injuries on or after October 1, 2020. We are awaiting the official announcement from the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents and the corresponding Circular Letter with further specifics.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS WILL RESUME LIMITED IN-PERSON HEARINGS BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has announced that they will resume limited in-person hearings effective September 28, 2020. There will be 3 courtrooms open per day in the Boston Regional Office, and 2 courtrooms open per day in Fall River, Lawrence, Springfield, and Worcester…

TWO NEW ENGLAND STATES HAVE ENACTED COVID-19 LEGISLATION PROVIDING PRESUMPTIVE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR COVID-19 CLAIMS *CONNECTICUT* On July 24, 2020, Connecticut Governor Lamont issued Executive Order No. 7JJJ establishing a rebuttable presumption of compensability for all COVID-19 claims from 3/10/2020 to 5/20/2020.  The Order states, in summary, that there is a rebuttable presumption that an employee who is seeking…

On July 13, 2020, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed into law S.342: “An act relating to temporary workers’ compensation amendments related to COVID-19” In summary, this bill states that: In the case of a “front-line worker”, any disability or death resulting from COVID-19 shall be presumed to be compensable pursuant to 21 V.S.A. chapter 9, provided that the front-line worker receives a…

The Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission has announced that they will start to hold in-person Formal and Appellate hearings on August 1, 2020 The Connecticut WCC will begin allowing a limited number of in-person Formal and CRB hearings beginning on August 1, 2020. All Formal hearings and CRB Appellate hearings that can be completed utilizing Microsoft Teams or telephonically will continue…

United States Supreme Court Rules Religious Employers Exempted from Anti-Discrimination Laws on First Amendment Grounds and Employers May Exclude Contraceptive Coverage from Group Health Plans Based on Religious or Moral Beliefs On July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court issued two rulings that impact employment discrimination and group health plan obligations for certain employers. In the first set of combined cases,…

NEW HAMPSHIRE Department of Labor State Average Weekly Wage effective July 1, 2020 The Department of Labor in the State of New Hampshire has announced new maximum and minimum weekly compensation rates effective July 1, 2020 The new maximum weekly compensation rate will be one thousand six hundred eighty-six dollars ($1,686.00). In order for an injured employee to receive the maximum benefit,…

OSHA ISSUES REVISED ENFORCEMENT GUIDANCE FOR RECORDING CASES OF CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) On May 19, 2020 OSHA issued new guidance that requires that where employers know of an employee with a confirmed case of COVID19, they must undertake a reasonable, good faith investigation to determine whether the illness is “work related.” If, upon the conclusion of such investigation, the…