Court Restricts

The Maine Supreme Court has just dropped a bombshell: In Roy v. BIW, 2008 ME 94, the Court held that Maine employers cannot reduce or suspend total incapacity benefits to an injured employee when he later becomes totally disabled by a non-work condition.

Hearing Officer Knopf had granted Roy's Petition for Review on his 1987 and 1994 work injuries to his neck and back, awarding partial benefits at varying rates until he left work entirely, and then total benefits for 9 more months, until he became totally disabled by his non-work-related liver condition, after which she found he was not entitled to incapacity benefits under 39-A M.R.S.A. §201(5), which provides:

Subsequent nonwork injuries. If an employee suffers a nonwork-related injury or disease that is not causally connected to the previous compensable injury, the subsequent nonwork-related injury or disease is not compensable under this Act.

Roy appealed HO Knopf's decision, and the Court, in a 4 to 3 split decision, overturned her ruling and ordered BIW to pay Roy ongoing total benefits. The majority on the Court interpreted the statute to mean only that an employer should not have to pay additional benefits if a partially-disabled employee should become totally disabled by a nonwork condition.

As the dissenters on the Court pointed out, however, the majority's decision seems to deviate from past Court decisions on this issue and to eliminate the independent intervening cause defense employers have used successfully over the past 20 years to reduce workers' comp incapacity benefits for workers who become disabled by nonwork injuries or conditions.

Employees' attorneys will undoubtedly use this decision to their advantage, of course, but it remains to be seen whether the Workers' Compensation Board will immediately recommend that the Legislature change the statute to reinstate the independent intervening cause defense.

In the meanwhile, however, Maine workers' comp just got more expensive, as it will be used to replace the other non-WC disability benefits these employees should be getting instead. As your attorneys, we will try to limit the adverse impact of Roy by interpreting it to apply only to cases in which an employee was already totally disabled by a work injury.

If you have any questions, please let one of us know.

Kevin Gillis
Tom Getchell
Michael Richards
Dan Gilligan
John Flynn