EXERTIONAL ABILITY OF LESS THAN SEDENTARY WORK DOES NOT EQUATE TO A FINDING OF PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY, PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILTIY FINDING AFFIRMED.
The Third Department, over a two-justice dissent, determined the evidence supported the Workers’ Compensation Board’s permanent partial disability finding. Claimant argued she was totally disabled and contended the Board’s finding she has an exertional ability of “less than sedentary work” equated to a finding of permanent total disability. On that issue, the Third Department wrote:
Under the Board guidelines, physicians are required to perform an evaluation of a claimant’s functional capabilities, including his or her exertional abilities (see New York State Guidelines for Determining Permanent Impairment and Loss of Wage Earning Capacity at 44-46 [2012]). The finding of a claimant’s exertional ability is a factor to be considered by the Board in determining the claimant’s loss of wage-earning capacity … . The loss of wage-earning capacity is used to establish the duration of benefits for claimants that have sustained a permanent partial disability … . “In contrast, a permanent total disability is established where the medical proof shows a claimant is totally disabled and unable to engage in any gainful employment. The duration of benefits is not an issue in the permanent total disability context for the simple reason that there is no expectation that a claimant found to have such a disability will rejoin the work force” … . Accordingly, a finding that a claimant has an exertional ability of performing less than sedentary work, while a factor to consider in setting the duration of a permanently partially disabled claimant’s benefits, is not dispositive in the context of establishing the claimant’s overall disability. Rather, the exertional ability to work is applicable only to those claimants already found to have sustained a permanent partial disability and, therefore, are expected to rejoin the work force. Matter of Burgos v Citywide Cent. Ins. Program, 2017 NY Slip Op 02489, 3rd Dept 3-30-17
