Quest Diagnostics, Employer
No. G0684519
New York Workers Compensation
January 6, 2020
Date
of Accident: 11/16/2012
District
Office: NYC
Carrier:
Charter Oak Fire Ins Co, Carrier ID No.: W054001 ,Carrier
Case No.: EVP5107
Claimant's Attorney: Ugalde & Rzonca
Panel:
Clarissa M. Rodriguez
MANDATORY
FULL BOARD REVIEW FULL BOARD MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
The
Full Board, at its meeting on December 17, 2019, considered
the above captioned case for Mandatory Full Board Review of
the Board Panel Memorandum of Decision filed June 5, 2019.
ISSUE
The
issue presented for Mandatory Full Board Review is
claimant's loss of wage-earning capacity (LWEC).
The
Workers' Compensation Law Judge (WCLJ) classified the
claimant with a permanent partial disability, found that he
had an 80% LWEC, directed continuing payments at the rate of
$617.75 per week, and approved a fee of $5,000.00 to
claimant's counsel.
The
unanimous Board Panel found that the claimant had a 60% LWEC,
directed continuing benefits at the rate of $463.31 per week,
and reduced the attorney's fee to $1,000.00.
The
claimant filed an application for Full Board Review on June
25, 2019, arguing that the WCLJ "is the best arbiter of
an LWEC determination" and that the Board Panel should
have affirmed the WCLJ decision. With respect to the
attorney's fee, the claimant's attorney attached the
fee application showing 130.68 hours of work over the course
of 6.5 years, supporting a $5,000.00 fee. The claimant
requested that the fee be reinstated.
The
carrier filed a rebuttal on July 17, 2019, arguing that the
Board Panel decision is supported by substantial evidence.
Pursuant
to Workers' Compensation Law (WCLJ) § 23, Full Board
Review is Mandatory because the Board Panel reduced the
claimant's LWEC below the safety net threshold pursuant
to WCL § 35(3).
Upon
review, the Full Board votes to adopt the following findings
and conclusions.
FACTS
This
claim is established for work-related injuries to the neck,
back, chest, left elbow, left shoulder, left hip,
consequential left knee, and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome
resulting from an accident that occurred on November 16,
2012. The average weekly wage was set at $1,158.28.
On
October 7, 2013, claimant underwent a lumbar discectomy at
L4-L5, and had revision lumbar discectomy surgery with fusion
at L4-L5 on February 5, 2014. Claimant also underwent...
