Name

Lilley v. CT Sides

Insurance Company

Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company

Date Decided

October 12, 2018

Panel Members

Glen Goodnough

David Hirtle

Evelyn Knopf

Categories

Average Weekly Wage

Tags

Hip Seasonal Worker AWW Intermittent Employment

File Size

200 KB

Download

Summary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys

Mr. Lilly was a logging trucker who typically did not work during mud season. He injured his left hip at work in 2012 and CT paid him benefits pursuant to a consent decree. He then filed a Petition to Determine Average Weekly Wage, and he argued that he was not a "seasonal worker" under ยง102 (4) (C) (2), so CT Sides should not include the 2 months he did not work in calculating his AWW and comp rate. Judge Pelletier disagreed and found that he was a seasonal worker, so Mr. Lilly appealed.

He argued that subsection (C) (2) applies only if the he had actually harvested the trees or "initially hauled" them from the forest. The Appellate Division rejected his argument and affirmed Judge Pelletier's decision, holding that "initial hauling" of trees includes bringing them to sawmills. The panel rejected his argument that the statute violates equal protection and due process, in part because at hearing he made only a perfunctory constitutional argument and thus waived the issue, and in part because the state had a rational basis for treating different employees differently on wage calculations. The panel also reject his argument that Judge Pelletier should have used comparable wage statements to determine the AWWs, holding that Mr. Lilly's work history supports a finding of "intermittent" employment.

Page |