LOIS Senior Associate Nicholas Minerva secured a disallowance in a New York Workers’ Compensation motor vehicle accident claim. A video was provided of the purported accident, including video from the inside the cab of the truck at the time when the accident occurred. The Claimant testified that he was able to finish his shift that day and came in for his shift the following day. The next day, his supervisor told him he had reviewed the video and was terminating the Claimant due to the accident.
The Claimant then indicated that he wished to file a Workers’ Compensation claim. He also indicated that he had not worked since being terminated and needed to undergo left shoulder surgery due to a SLAP tear, which he claimed was caused by the accident. The Claimant also alleged injuries to the neck, back, and both shoulders, denying any prior similar injuries. The Claimant’s supervisor also testified that the claimant provided no complaints of pain and was able to complete all his shifts without incident until the Claimant was terminated.
An IME was performed, and the initial hospital records and the video of the accident were reviewed. The IME concluded that the Claimant’s complaints of pain were not related to this accident. In contrast, the Claimant’s doctors, who testified that they believed his injuries to the neck, back, and both shoulders were related to the accident, did not review the video nor the initial hospital records, despite first seeing the Claimant ten days post-accident. The Claimant’s physicians conceded that they had no specifics regarding the mechanism of injury, other than that the Claimant was involved in a motor vehicle accident.
Following testimony, Minerva argued that the Claimant had failed to meet his burden of proof regarding the causal relationship of his alleged injuries and that this claim was an afterthought. Thus, he argued that the claim should be disallowed and that any lost time should be considered unrelated wage loss. Following arguments, the Law Judge agreed with Minerva’s position and disallowed the claim entirely.
