Connecticut Supreme Court Significantly Shifts Workers’ Compensation Benefits
At a Glance Connecticut Supreme Court holds that Workers’ Compensation Act does not require conversion of temporary benefits to permanent benefits after a claimant has reached maximum medical improvement. Administrative law judges can continue temporary disability benefits in lieu of awarding permanent disability benefits. Employer groups call upon the legislature to override the decision, which they claim could have a devastating impact on insurance rates. The Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled in Gardner v. Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services 1 that workers’ compensation a dministrative law judges (ALJs) can award ongoing temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits to claimants who reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), rather than require conversion of TPD benefits to permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits. The ruling upends decades of decisions to the contrary and significantly shifts the interplay between temporary and permanent workers...