Name

Belanger v. City of Lewiston

Insurance Company

CCMSI

Date Decided

August 13, 2014

Panel Members

Timothy Collier

Elizabeth Elwin

Tom Pelletier

Categories

Work Search

Tags

Work Search Partial Incapacity Work Capacity Monaghan Factors

File Size

228 KB

Download

Summary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys

The Appellate Division panel affirmed the hearing officer’s decision denying the employer’s petition for review seeking to reduce the ongoing payment of 100% partial incapacity benefits. It was uncontested that Belanger had regained work capacity. The hearing officer ruled, and the panel agreed, that Belanger’s fairly brief work search evidence and testimony about ongoing efforts to obtain employment, coupled with her education, work experience, and physical limitations, were sufficient to carry her burden of producing evidence that work was unavailable to her because of her injury. The hearing officer clearly applied some of the Monaghan factors, and was not required to explicitly relate his findings to those factors. The hearing officer was not legally compelled to find that work was available based on the employer’s labor market evidence.

Page |