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CLAIMANT PROPERLY FOUND TO HAVE A 35% LOSS OF WAGE EARNING CAPACITY DESPITE HIS HAVING RETURNED TO WORK FULL-TIME.

The Third Department determined claimant was properly determined to have a 35% loss of wage earning capacity even though he had returned to work full-time. Because claimant had returned to work, he was not awarded any compensation. However, should his ability to work change, he would be entitled to up to 275 weeks of compensation. The court explained the different meanings of “wage earning capacity” and “loss of wage earning capacity:”

The employer argues that, because claimant returned to work full time at his preaccident wages, claimant’s wage-earning capacity at the time of classification was 100%; therefore, the employer’s argument continues, the Board’s finding that claimant sustained a 35% loss of wage-earning capacity was in error and unlawful. The employer’s argument on this point ignores the fact that the terms “wage-earning capacity” (see Workers’ Compensation Law § 15 [5-a]) and “loss of wage-earning capacity” (see Workers’ Compensation Law § 15 [3] [w]) “are to be used for separate and distinct purposes” … . As this Court recently reiterated, “wage-earning capacity is used to determine a claimant’s weekly rate of compensation,” whereas “loss of wage-earning capacity . . . is used at the time of classification to set the maximum number of weeks over which a claimant with a permanent partial disability is entitled to receive benefits” … . “Unlike wage-earning capacity, which can fluctuate based on a claimant’s employment status, loss of wage-earning capacity [is] intended to remain fixed” … . Contrary to the employer’s assertion, “[t]he durational limits imposed by Workers’ Compensation Law § 15 (3) (w) do not distinguish between claimants who are employed at the time of classification and those who are not” … . Matter of De Ruggiero v City of N.Y. Dept. of Citywide Admin. Servs., 2017 NY Slip Op 03999, 3rd Dept 5-18-17

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW (CLAIMANT PROPERLY FOUND TO HAVE A 35% LOSS OF WAGE EARNING CAPACITY DESPITE HIS HAVING RETURNED TO WORK FULL-TIME)

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