PATRICIA ST. JEAN
v.
THE HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC.
W.C.C. 2016-00038
Rhode Island Worker Compensation
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Providence, SC
August 27, 2019
FINAL DECREE OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This
matter came on to be heard before the Appellate Division upon
the claim of appeal of the respondent/employer and upon
consideration thereof, the employer's appeal is denied
and dismissed, and it is
ORDERED,
ADJUDGED, AND DECREED:
1. That
the findings of fact and the orders contained in a decree of
this Court entered on February 28,2017 be, and they hereby
are, affirmed.
2. That
the employer shall pay a counsel fee in the amount of Three
Thousand Five Hundred and 00/100 ($3,500.00) Dollars to John
M. Harnett, Esq., attorney for the employee, for successfully
defending against the employer's claim of appeal.
Entered
as the final decree of this Court this 27th day of
August 2019.
PER
ORDER:
Nicholas
DiFilippo, Administrator
DECISION
OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
OLSSON,
J.
This
matter is before the Appellate Division on the appeal of the
employer, Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., from the trial judge's
decision and decree granting the petition to enforce filed by
the employee, Patricia St. Jean, and ordering reinstatement
of her partial incapacity benefits as of December 16, 2015,
based upon a ruling that the notice of termination of her
weekly benefits required of the employer/insurer pursuant to
Rhode Island General Laws § 28-33-18(d) was inadequate.
As a result of that determination, the trial judge also
awarded a twenty (20) percent penalty on the retroactive
payment of weekly benefits. After a thorough review of the
record and the applicable statute, we deny and dismiss the
employer's appeal.
The
evidence at trial consisted of an Agreed Statement of Facts
prepared by the parties, copies of previous pretrial orders,
a mutual agreement, and the relevant correspondence from the
employer's third-party administrator. On May 18, 2009,
while working for the employer, the employee suffered an
injury to both wrists. Pursuant to a pretrial order entered
in W.C.C. No. 2009-05343 on September 28, 2009, she began
receiving weekly benefits for partial incapacity as of August
20, 2009. In accordance with a mutual agreement entered into
by the parties and three (3) subsequent pretrial orders, the
employee received weekly benefits for various periods of
total and partial incapacity thereafter. On March 2, 2015, a
pretrial order was entered in W.C.C. No. 2014-06990 in which
it was found that the employee had reached maximum medical
improvement, and which ordered the continued payment of
weekly benefits for partial incapacity.
On May
15, 2015, the third-party administrator for the employer
mailed a letter to the employee stating that her benefits
would cease because she "will soon have collected
partial compensation benefits in excess of 312 weeks."
The correspondence further advised the employee that she
could file a petition at the Workers' Compensation Court
requesting the continuation of her weekly benefits if she
believed...
