Employer’s failure to file paperwork did not prove compensability

An employer that did not timely file paperwork against a program analyst’s workers compensation claim that she fell and hurt herself at work did not automatically mean the injury was compensable, an appeals court in New York ruled Thursday.

 

Wen Liu filed her claim two years after a 2008 fall at work, which she stated was caused by her “becoming dizzy” and resulting in injuries to her head, neck and wrist, according to documents in In the Matter of the Claim of Wen Liu v. Division of General Internal Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, et al., Workers' Compensation Board filed in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department, in Albany.

 

The employer, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, failed to file a timely notice of controversy and per state law was precluded from submitting evidence that Ms. Liu did not sustain accidental injuries or that the alleged injuries did not arise out of and in the course of her employment, according to documents.

 

Still, a Workers’ Compensation Law Judge “found that claimant had not demonstrated a causal connection between her injuries and her employment and disallowed the claim.” The Workers’ Compensation Board upheld that decision, as did the appeals court on Thursday.

 

The court cited evidence that Ms. Liu at her emergency room visit following her fall and at subsequent doctor visits did not mention her losing consciousness and mentioned that she had suffered from chronic numbness in her arm and neck for five years, according to documents.

 

“Given the foregoing, substantial evidence supports the Board's rejection of claimant's medical proof as unworthy of belief, and its decision that claimant was not injured in a work-related accident… will not be disturbed,” the appeals court wrote.