D.C. considers workers comp ‘parity’ resolution

Lawmakers in the District of Columbia are considering a resolution that would permit workers to file workers compensation claims in states in addition to Washington D.C.

Currently, employers can choose where claims are accepted.

Council Resolution 240783, introduced Tuesday, would amend the District of Columbia’s comp code to provide that “payment or award of compensation under the workers compensation law of any other state shall not bar a claim for compensation under the District’s workers compensation law for the same injury or death.”

Under the proposal, any such award under the District’s workers comp law would be reduced by the payment received in any state.

Current D.C. law has been “strictly interpreted by the courts to bar injured workers from bringing otherwise valid claims in the District if they have received any compensation under the law of another state, no matter whether the compensation provided in that other state was less than the worker would be entitled to in the District or whether the worker knew that receiving the compensation would waive (the) right to bring a claim in the District,” according to a summary of the resolution.

Such a “legislative scheme effectively allows employers and their insurers to choose which state’s law will apply to workers compensation claims brought against them,” the summary states.