Connecticut’s highest court says judges can award disability

Reversing a lower court, the Connecticut Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that state law “clearly” empowers administrative law judges to award ongoing temporary disability benefits to injured workers receiving workers compensation.

The issue at hand in the ruling in Gardner v. Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services, a case in which Beulah Gardner in April 2016 suffered a compensable work-related injury to her left wrist while restraining a patient as part of her job with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, was the legal functions of an administrative law judge in workers comp proceedings.

Ms. Gardner was appealing a ruling of an appellate court, which had affirmed the decision of the Compensation Review Board, which had upheld the decision of an administrative law judge to grant her employer’s request to terminate benefits after she had reached maximum medical improvement and to convert the ongoing temporary partial incapacity benefits that she was receiving to permanent partial disability benefits.

The woman claimed that the appellate court had incorrectly concluded that an administrative law judge lacks the authority to award ongoing temporary partial incapacity benefits to a claimant who has reached maximum medical improvement, at which point the claimant becomes eligible to receive permanent partial disability benefits.

The Supreme Court said the appellate court’s assessment was incorrect and that “clear and unambiguous language” in state law “affords an administrative law judge the discretion to award a claimant who has reached maximum medical improvement ongoing temporary incapacity benefits” and “provides that the administrative law judge ‘may,’ but is not required to, award permanent partial disability benefits… ‘in lieu of other compensation.’”

The court remanded the case back to the appellate court.