Court: Judges Cannot Skip Hearing Before Ruling on Comp Settlements
- The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed on Aug. 20 that a workers’ compensation judge erred by dismissing a $225,000 settlement between the University of Pennsylvania and an injured nurse without holding a required hearing on the agreement.
- The case began after the nurse hurt her back moving a patient in January 2021. While the employer sought to terminate her benefits and two chiropractors filed separate petitions over the reasonableness of her treatment, both sides negotiated a settlement worth $225,000 plus $4,912.95 in litigation costs.
- Rather than holding a hearing on the settlement, the judge instead ruled on the merits of the underlying dispute, found the nurse fully recovered, rejected the chiropractic treatment, and dismissed the settlement petition — prompting the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board to vacate the decision and reinstate benefits with interest.
- The Commonwealth Court held that Section 449 of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act mandates that once a party files to approve a settlement, the judge must consider it in an open hearing and decide within 30 days, and clarified that settlements don’t need to resolve every pending issue to be valid; the case now returns to a new judge to hold the hearing and decide the settlement and outstanding petitions together.
Landscaping Company Owner Charged With Operating Without Coverage
- Matthew Lang, 44, owner of Shoots to Roots Plant Care Corp. in Redding, Connecticut, was arrested on Aug. 5 by inspectors from the state’s Workers’ Compensation Fraud Control Unit and charged with noncompliance with insurance requirements for allegedly operating his landscaping business without workers’ compensation coverage.
- Connecticut state law requires business owners to carry workers’ compensation insurance.
- Lang turned himself in at the Rocky Hill Police Department and was released on a $10,000 bond.
- He is scheduled to appear in court on September 28.
Connecticut Woman Charged With Workers’ Comp Fraud for Double Dipping
- A Waterbury, Connecticut woman was charged with fraudulent claim or receipt of benefits and larceny after allegedly illegally collecting $19,082 in workers’ compensation benefits following a July 21, 2021 back injury she sustained as a certified nursing assistant at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury.
- While receiving temporary partial and total temporary disability benefits from St. Mary’s Hospital, investigators say McKenzie was simultaneously employed by Hale Home Care, LLC performing duties similar to a certified nursing assistant, as well as working as a certified nursing assistant at Waterbury Hospital.
- Officials said McKenzie failed to disclose her other employment and her demonstrated ability to resume nursing assistant duties while continuing to receive disability payments from St. Mary’s Hospital.
- McKenzie surrendered at the Rocky Hill Police Department and was released on a $10,000 non-surety bond; she is scheduled to appear at Waterbury Superior Court on Thursday.
Workers’ Comp Investigation Uncovers $2 Million PPP Fraud Scheme
- A routine workers’ compensation investigation into a Miami letter carrier who failed to report both her healed knee injury and undisclosed side-business income unraveled a $2 million Paycheck Protection Program fraud scheme involving four former Postal Service employees.
- Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) special agents discovered the carrier had received a $20,000 PPP loan with help from a coworker, triggering a joint investigation with the Labor Department and Small Business Administration OIGs that revealed the same coworker had helped a second employee obtain a $43,000 loan, a third obtain $28,000 while also cheating on her taxes, and a fourth obtain $1.3 million in fraudulent loans.
- The mastermind coworker created fake businesses and email accounts for her colleagues, prepared fraudulent tax declarations and loan paperwork, charged substantial fees for her services, and helped four additional people outside the Postal Service secure a combined $165,000 in fraudulent loans.
- All employees involved were fired, and four were charged, tried, and sentenced alongside four non-USPS co-conspirators to a combined 15 years in federal prison — with the scheme’s mastermind receiving the longest sentence at five years — and all were ordered to pay $2 million in restitution.