Jones Jones LLC congratulates Associate Kevin Moy and his team for successfully arguing before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board that a controverted assault claim should be disallowed.
In this 2023 case, the claimant alleged they were assaulted by their supervisor and injured their left shoulder. The claimant denied prior injuries, but received treatment, including x-rays in 2021 diagnosing osteoarthritis. Medical examination from the claimant’s doctor and an independent medical examiner (IME) found prima facie medical evidence or sufficient medical evidence conceding causal relationship based on the claimant’s history of being assaulted. However, the claimant also denied prior injuries to the left shoulder to the IME despite 2021 treatment. Additional evidence in this case includes a video of the site, which was precluded from the record and a previous write-up against the claimant for not wearing a safety vest.
During the trial, Moy and his team took extensive testimony from the claimant and the supervisor which contradicted one another. The claimant said the supervisor roughly grabbed the claimant’s arm whereas the supervisor testified they only lightly tapped the claimant from behind. As the testimonies devolved into a he-said-she-said situation, Moy and his team centered their argument on credibility. Moy and his team argued that their witness, the supervisor, was more credible based on inconsistencies in the claimant’s statements and there was no assault that could have resulted in injuries. The Law Judge agreed with Moy and his team and disallowed the claim.
Moy and his team conducted thorough cross-examination of the claimant at trial, overcoming the preclusion of the video evidence and the challenge of the section 21(1) presumption that an accident took place in the course and scope of the claimant’s employment. Well done to the entire team. If you are in need of assistance with a workers’ compensation case, please contact our appellate team at concierge@jonesjonesllc.com.
