26 Dec 2020

New York: Hamstring Tear Can Result in Scheduled Loss of Use Award

A New York appellate court reversed a decision by the state's Workers' Compensation Board that held an injured worker was not entitled to a scheduled loss of use (SLU) award for a severe tear in his hamstring muscle following a work-related accident. The court agreed with the Board that the state's 2018 Workers’ Compensation Guidelines for Determining Impairment (“guidelines”) failed to provide any specific level of impairment for hamstring tears, but the court said that silence was not determinative. The claimant's medical expert could reasonably rely upon the special consideration found in the guidelines related to quadricep ruptures. The court also noted that both orthopedists who had examined the claimant indicated he had reached MMI and that the hamstring tear had resulted in a permanent injury that could not be repaired surgically. The Board's finding was not supported by substantial evidence, held the appellate court.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Matter of Semrau v. Coca-Cola Refreshments USA Inc., 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7850 (Dec. 17, 2020)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 86.03.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see