Jeffrey Burke Employee
Ranco Tranportation, LLC Employer
Workers Compensation Trust Fund Insurer
Randy A. Coffin d/b/a Ranco Trucking[1] Employer
Travelers Indemnity of America Insurer
Mercer Transportation Employer
American Zurich Insurance Co. Insurer
Nos. 035209-13, 033108-13, 037228-13
Massachusetts Workers Compensation Decisions
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents
May 30, 2019
The
case was heard by Administrative Judge Benoit.
David
J. Kneeland, Jr., Esq., for the employee
Timothy J. Foley, Esq., for the Workers Compensation Trust
Fund
Israel
Sanchez, Esq., for Ranco Transportation and Randy A. Coffin
d/b/a Ranco Trucking
Thomas
D. Daniels, Esq., for Travelers Indemnity Co. of America at
hearing
Garrett Harris, Esq., for Travelers Indemnity Co. of America
on appeal
Joseph
M. Spinale, Esq., for American Zurich Insurance Co. at
hearing
Michael T. Henry, Esq. for American Zurich Insurance Co. on
appeal
Harpin, Fabricant, Calliotte, Judges.
REVIEWING BOARD DECISION
HARPIN, J.
American
Zurich Insurance Company (Zurich) appeals from a decision
finding it liable for compensation benefits to the employee
pursuant to G. L. c. 152, § 18. We affirm the
decision.[2]
The
employee, 58 years old at the time of the hearing, sustained
an industrial injury on December 9, 2013. He was in Chicago
picking up a load of pipes for his employer, Ranco
Transportation LLC (Ranco), that he was then to haul to a
company in Taunton, Massachusetts. (Dec. 8, 18; Ex. 40.) He
slipped on a set of pipes that had been loaded onto the
flatbed trailer he was to haul, sustaining severe injuries of
bilateral closed pilon fractures, bilateral anterior
subluxation of the ankle joints, and severe soft tissue
injuries with blistering. (Dec. 8.) These injuries required
four surgeries, from December 2013 to March 2016.
Id.
The
employee brought claims against the Workers’
Compensation Trust Fund (WCTF) (due to the uninsured status
of Ranco), Travelers Indemnity Company (Travelers) (the
insurer of Randy A. Coffin, Sr. d/b/a Randy’s Truck and
Equipment Repair) (see supra note 1), and Zurich
(the insurer of Mercer Transportation, the alleged general
contractor).[3] After a conference on October 6,
2014, the judge ordered Travelers to pay the employee §
34 benefits, and to reimburse the WCTF for benefits it had
previously paid the employee under a § 19
Agreement.[4] (Dec. 6, 8-9.) The judge denied the
employee’s claims against WCTF and Zurich. (Dec. 6-7.)
The employee appealed the two denials, and Travelers appealed
the order against it. Id.
The
impartial physician appointed pursuant to G. L. c. 152,
§ 11A, Dr. Charles Kenney, was of the opinion the
employee’s injuries were causally related to the
December 9, 2013, incident, that the employee was totally
disabled from his work as a truck driver, had to avoid
kneeling, crawling, squatting, climbing, standing or walking
more than he could tolerate, and should use crutches or a
cane as needed. (Dec. 14-15.) After a hearing, the judge
adopted the doctor’s opinions and found the employee
was totally incapacitated from December 9, 2013, to date and
continuing, and awarded medical benefits and weekly
compensation, to be paid by Zurich. (Dec. 21, 22-23.)
However,
the issue before the judge was not the extent of the
employee’s injuries and disability, but whether he
worked for Ranco, which was uninsured for workers’
compensation on the date of injury. Further, if he was found
to be an employee of Ranco, whether there was contractor
liability, pursuant to G. L. c.152, § 18, that would
provide...
