Mensah v. Brown University, 042720 RIWC, 2016-00451

Case DateApril 27, 2020
CourtRhode Island
GEORGE K. MENSAH
v.
BROWN UNIVERSITY
W.C.C. No. 2016-00451
Rhode Island Worker Compensation
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Providence, SC
April 27, 2020
         FINAL DECREE OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION          This matter came on to be heard by the Appellate Division upon the claim of appeal of the petitioner/employee and upon consideration thereof, the employee's claim of appeal is denied and dismissed, and it is          ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED:          That the findings of fact and the orders contained in a decree of this Court entered on December 27, 2018 be, and they hereby are, affirmed.          PER ORDER:          Nicholas DiFilippo, Administrator          DECISION OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION           OLSSON, J.          This matter is before the Appellate Division on the employee's appeal from the decision and decree of the trial judge denying the employee's petition to review alleging a return of total incapacity beginning May 3, 2013 due to a work-related injury he sustained on March 3, 2000. The trial judge determined that pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws § 28-35-45(a), the court lacked jurisdiction to consider the employee's petition to review to recommence compensation payments because the petition was not filed within ten (10) years after his compensation ceased. After a thorough review of the record and considering the respective arguments of both parties, we deny the employee's appeal and affirm the trial judge's decision and decree.          The statute in question, Rhode Island General Laws § 28-35-45(a), creates a ten (10) year period within which agreements or decrees are subject to review, stating, in pertinent part, as follows:
At any time after the date of the approval of any agreement or at any time after the date of the entry of any decree concerning compensation, and if compensation has ceased under the agreement or decree, within ten (10) years after that, any agreement, award, order, finding, or decree may be from time to time reviewed by the workers' compensation court[.]
         George K. Mensah, the employee, worked as a carpenter for Brown University, the employer, in 2000. On March 3, 2000, the employee was injured at work when he was using a 40-foot-high scissor lift to remove three (3) javelins that were stuck between the roof and the rafters of the employer's gymnasium, and the lift collapsed on him. Thereafter, pursuant to a memorandum of agreement dated March 14, 2000, the employee received weekly compensation benefits beginning March 4, 2000 for bilateral ankle fractures and multiple contusions until a pretrial order entered in W.C.C. No. 2003-02028 discontinued his benefits as of July 1, 2003. That order was affirmed by a decree entered on September 14, 2005.          On January 25, 2016, the employee filed a petition to review, W.C.C. No. 2016-00451, alleging that his total incapacity for work has increased or returned as of May 3, 2013 and continuing due to the effects of his March 3, 2000 work-related injury. On October 4, 2016, the employee filed a second petition...

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