Jones Jones LLC is pleased to announce that Associate Soraya Cole recently secured a favorable decision before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board on behalf of a large self-insured public transit organization.
In this case, Soraya successfully argued the claimant had not met the burden of establishing extreme hardship. The claimant originally claimed injury to his back, consequential depression, and consequential left knee injury related to the bus he was driving hitting potholes. The case was established with an average weekly wage of $1,407.82, with Jones Jones’ client under a permanent partial disability (PPD) payment in the amount of $600.00. Pursuant to the Notice of Decision filed on 10/27/15, the claimant was classified and found to have an 80% loss of wage-earning capacity, equal to compensation for 425 weeks. The claimant’s cap will expire on 12/19/23.
At a hearing on 08/02/23 the claimant raised extreme hardship and produced a C-35 to the Board file, wherein he listed income and expenses. Upon a thorough review of the C-35, Soraya was able to argue that the claimant failed to demonstrate extreme hardship as the claimant had additional money in surplus even after the payment of all expenses. Additionally, Soroya was able to uncover that the claimant receives aid from his mother and therefore this fact further aided in the lack of extreme hardship. The Workers’ Compensation Law Judge (WCLJ) adopted Soraya’s position that the claimant failed to meet the burden to demonstrate extreme hardship and so denied his application for reclassification.
Throughout this case Soraya conducted a thorough review and cross examination of all the claimant’s income and expenses. Upon completion of cross-examination of the claimant Soraya found and highlighted several inconsistencies and incorrect statements regarding the claimant’s financials. Such thorough review of the C-35, as well as Soraya’s expert summary of such inconsistencies helped showcase that the claimant was not actually suffering extreme hardship and led to the WCLJ adopting her position.
Congratulations Soraya. If you have a case similar to this one and are in need of assistance, please connect with our team today at clientservices@jonesjonesllc.com!