Susan Parzymieso of our office recently prevailed on an appeal which reversed an adverse decision from an Administrative Law Judge. Susan invoked a provision of the Workers’ Compensation Law, section 123, which limits benefits to medical only when an injury is at least 18 years old and the last award of monetary benefits was at least 8 years ago. Susan’s case clearly met those requirements, but the point of argument is whether the case was “truly closed” with no issues to be resolved when the application for a section 123 finding was made, a requirement to invoke the provision. In front of the Law Judge, the claimant had argued that a 2014 decision directed the parties to negotiate awards but even after a subsequent hearing in 2016, awards were not addressed but still contemplated. The judge credited that argument, arguing that because awards were contemplated at both the 2014 and 2016 hearings, the case was not truly closed. The claimant actually made an application for awards on May 6, 2024.
In reversing the Law Judge’s decision, the Board Panel on appeal credited Susan’s argument that the claimant essentially sat on the issue for almost a decade before raising a claim for additional awards. The panel held that despite having sufficient opportunity to reopen the case to address any allegation of lost time, no request was made until 2024. As a result of Susan’s work, our client will be forever relieved from making any award of monetary benefits to the claimant, with only the medical portion of the claim remaining. Unlike the claimant in this case, Susan did not hesitate to raise an issue and then persisted to the appellate level to obtain a favorable result for our client.
