NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.
Division I of the
Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals has published an opinion that interprets the
application of old law/new law limits on the award of permanent partial
disability. It's a misnomer to call the Administrative Workers' Compensation
Act (AWCA) a "new law," because it has now been in effect for 12 years.
The case is Debra Glenn v. City of Tulsa, the claimant was a police officer in Tulsa and had several accidents over a long career. His total amount of PPD awarded was over 100%. The AWCA does not allow the Commission to award PPD if the claimant has already been awarded 100 %. The problem arose because the law in effect at the time of his old injuries allowed MORE THAN 100 % because the percentage of PPD in a case in which there was a surgery or amputation WAS DEDUCTED FROM THE TOTAL PPD. Those deductions are NOT available under the AWCA.
The Court of Civil Appeals ruled that MORE THAN 100 % PPD can be awarded in a Commission case IF the PPD awarded in old law cases involved surgeries or amputations. Those percentages must be deducted. And, if the new total PPD is under 100 %, more PPD can be awarded for the last injury.
The opinion looks at all pertinent decisions regarding the old law vs. the new law, i.e. Carlock and Cantwell. Those decisions, plus the oft-cited case of Williams Companies v. Dunkelgod, clearly hold that the law in effect at the time of a claimant's injury controls in workers' compensation matters. The new COCA opinion highlights the language in Dunkelgod:
"The statutes then in force [the accident date] form a part of the contract and determine the substantive rights and obligations of the parties. No subsequent amendment can operate retrospectively to affect in any way the rights and obligations which are fixed."