Jones Jones LLC Attorney Katie Caracappa presented successful arguments before the Third Department Court in New York State and secured a win for the self-insured employer in the decision of Molander v. New York City Transit Authority (534520.pdf (state.ny.us)). Based on Attorney Caracappa’s arguments, the Court found that the claimant’s wage loss was unrelated to his underlying Worker’s Compensation claim; ultimately saving the self-insured employer $110,000 in indemnity awards.
The case had previously been established for obstructive airway disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, upper respiratory disease, and sleep apnea. The claimant had not lost any time from work due these conditions since 2015, but thereafter maintained that he had stopped working in February 2020 due to his respiratory issues associated with his case. The claimant took the position that his lung condition had deteriorated and he was no longer able to work. However, through litigation the Jones Jones LLC team was able to demonstrate that the reason the claimant had actually stopped working was unrelated to his underlying Worker’s Compensation claim. The claimant had been involved with some legal troubles out of state and disciplinary proceedings with the employer resulted in his work stoppage. After reviewing the brief that Attorney Caracappa prepared, The Third Department agreed that the claimant was not credible and found the reason that the claimant stopped working was unrelated to the underlying claim.
We are proud of another great appellate win from the Jones Jones team. Congratulations Katie Carcapppa! Contact clientservices@jonesjonesllc.com should you or your team have any questions or need to connect with an attorney on appellate process.