Jones Jones LLC is pleased to share that Partner Stacee Vaikness and her team secured a successful outcome before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (NYSWCB).
In this event, the claimant filed a case for occupational diseases involving both shoulders, both elbows, both hands, both thumbs, both index fingers, both middle fingers, both hips, both knees and both ankles. Two years after the original date of disablement, the claimant provided a permanency report from their medical provider for multiple schedule loss of use (SLU) awards totaling to just under $1 million. Jones Jones took necessary action to review and ultimately discount the credibility of both the permanency report and the medical provider who created the report. The successful litigation of Vaikness culminated in the awards being rescinded with no need for an IME and ultimately saved our client nearly $1 million.
Upon receiving the permanency record, Vaikness and the Jones Jones team undertook an extensive medical investigation, requesting all records from the physician and cross-examining the claimant on their physical capabilities, prior injuries and treatment history, as well as cross-examining the physician twice. Taking their research a step further, the team subpoenaed treatment records from the doctor who had treated the established sites of injury during the pendency of the workers’ compensation claim but had not filed those reports with the NYSWCB. When the doctor did not initially comply with Jones Jones’ subpoena for records, the team requested Board intervention, bringing their attention to the potential size of the SLU award.
In 2020, the doctor reevaluated his 2019 opinion and, without a re-examination, modified his opinion so the award was just over $500,000, which the Law Judge awarded. Jones Jones appealed this decision, arguing that the doctor’s opinion was not credible as the claimant’s range of motion at the time of the permanency evaluation was significantly lower than what other doctors documented during earlier reports. The NYSWCB ruled in Jones Jones’ favor based on finding the physician’s opinion inherently unreliable. With this decision, the NYWCB rescinded all 18 SLU percentages and found there was no credible medical evidence in the record of permanency, meaning no money was owed to the claimant. In this case, the Jones Jones team’s tenacity, attention to detail and rigorous cross-examination process saved the client significant funds.
Congratulations to Vaikness and her entire team. If you are in need of assistance with a workers’ compensation case, please contact our appellate team at clientservices@jonesjonesllc.com.
