District of Columbia: Denial of Continued TTD Benefits Appropriate Where Claimant Exaggerated Symptoms

A District of Columbia appellate court held substantial evidence supported the CRB’s ruling that a workers’ compensation claimant had undergone a change in condition and was no longer totally disabled and no longer entitled to TTD benefits where, during a hearing, the ALJ inferred from the claimant’s general demeanor and his inconsistent statements that the claimant was no longer unable to work. The appellate court noted that the ALJ found that in spite of claimant’s contentions that he still suffered head and neck pain, the claimant did not appear to be in any discomfort during the two-hour hearing. The ALJ also noted that claimant had been deliberately evasive and contradictory in his testimony. The court said a claimant’s exaggeration of his physical symptoms or false statements about his reasons for not pursuing work opportunities could support an inference that the claimant’s disability or ability to work had changed.

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

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Bowser v. District of Columbia Dep’t of Empl. Servs., 2015 D.C. App. LEXIS 592 (Dec. 31, 2015) [2015 D.C. App. LEXIS 592 (Dec. 31, 2015)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 130.05 [130.05]

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

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