SOCIAL SERVICES LAW | WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
Submitted by Workers’ Compensation Attorney, Jeffrey Hark
62-2-3969 Parascandolo v. Dept. of Labor, et. al. , App. Div. (Espinosa, J.A.D.) (26 pp.)
The appellant held two part-time jobs when she was temporarily disabled as a result of an injury at her employment by the Board of Education. She received temporary disability benefits (TDB) through her employment at her second employer, where both she and her employer contributed to the Temporary Disability Fund. Because the Board of Education was not a “covered” employer under the Temporary Disability Benefits Law (TDBL), N.J.S.A. 43:21-25 to -66, her TDB was calculated solely on the wages earned from the second employer. Nonetheless, because she received temporary workers compensation benefits from the Board of Education, the Board of Review asserted a lien against her TDB based upon the subrogation provision in N.J.A.C. 12:18-1.5, a regulation designed to implement our decision in In re Scott, 321 N.J. Super. 60 (App. Div. 1999), aff’d, 162 N.J. 571 (2000).
After examining the interplay of the TDBL and the Workers Compensation Act when only one of two employers is a “covered employer” under the TDBL, we conclude that the Board relied upon an erroneous interpretation of its regulation; that the amount of TDB appellant received was a “full recovery” and not a “double recovery” of benefits and therefore, subrogation was inappropriate. [Approved for publication.]
