Georgia appeals court overturns workers comp denial

An injured worker who had lied about a previous injury on a job application is still entitled to workers compensation benefits for a subsequent injury because the employer was made aware of the prior injury in the interim, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled.

In McKay v. Inalfa Roof Systems Inc. et al., on Feb. 27 the court overturned rulings by an administrative law judge and the State Board of Workers’ Compensation that found that the worker’s claim was barred under the so-called Rycroft defense.

In Elec. Co. v. Rycroft, the state’s Supreme Court held that a worker who had made false representations about his or her physical condition when applying for a job, and there was a causal connection between the undisclosed condition and a later work injury, was not eligible for comp benefits.

In McKay v. Inalfa, a worker who was injured, including suffering multiple fractures, in an accident in 2012 had responded “no” on a 2020 job application when asked whether she had previously suffered broken bones or other injuries.

In June 2021, she injured her back and her physician determined she had aggravated a previous injury. On returning to work, she told her supervisor that she had been injured previously and that the later incident aggravated the prior injury. Inalfa kept her on, and she suffered another back injury in September 2021.

The appeals court determined that Rycroft did not apply to the second injury because, although she had made misrepresentations on her job application, Inalfa continued to employ her after managers became aware she had had a prior injury.

“Inalfa’s willingness to retain McKay in the assembly operator position, after learning of her prior back injury and false representation about it, waives its right to use the Rycroft defense to deny McKay workers compensation benefits for the subsequent injury she suffered,” the court ruled.