The following memo was received from one of COBA's Workers Compensation Attorneys Sean Riordan updating us on the recently proposed Workers' Compensation Guidelines. We appreciate all the hard work that was put in by Sean and his firm MDASR, in conjunction with the COBA Union.

Dear Brian/Dennis and Pat:

I wrote to you in September regarding the Workers' Compensation Board's (WCB) proposed "Guidelines for Determining Impairment" ("SLU Guidelines") and the adverse effect that such proposals would have on injured Correction Officers. Nassau COBA responded, calling for their rejection and asking for new proposals to be put forth. You and your union went above and beyond, working with both sides of the aisle in Albany and specifically meeting with Sen. John Flanagan to ensure Republicans did not back the proposal. I am happy to report that your extraordinary efforts were of immense importance and the Workers' Compensation Board issued a new proposal on Wednesday, November 22nd. It is MDASR's opinion that the newest proposal represents a more accurate reflection of the Legislature's intent when it directed the Workers' Compensation Board ("WCB") to adopt revised SLU guidelines.

To be clear, the newest proposal changes the SLU evaluation process in many significant ways and will certainly lower the SLU percentages that some workers receive. Specifically, the newest guidelines remove and/or modify many of the "special considerations" in the SLU evaluation. Such "special considerations" generally assign specific percentages to impairments based on diagnosis and/or surgical history. Injured workers, even those that have undergone surgery to repair their injuries, may receive lower SLU percentages than they would have under existing guidelines.  

While the new (11/22/17) proposal requires concessions by labor and injured workers in the very important task of evaluating permanent injuries, it is MDASR's opinion that this new proposal more accurately reflects "advances in modern medicine that enhances healing and results in better outcomes", which was the direction the WCB was given by the NYS Legislature.  Furthermore, we believe this proposal represents the most reasonable compromise offered to date and eliminates most of the draconian provisions of the original document.

We would caution, however, that the WCB's "proposal" is merely that, a proposal that must still be voted on and adopted by the Chair of the Workers' Compensation Board. Therefore, we are asking Nassau COBA to be heard on this issue one last time. The Workers' Compensation Board will meet on December 29, 2017 for official vote and adoption of new SLU Guidelines. The proposal issued by the Board on November 22, 2017 is again open for public comment at this time and will remain open until December 22, 2017. It is important that Nassau COBA and its members be equally vocal in their support of this new compromise proposal as it was against the former.  We ask that Nassau COBA write to elected officials and the NYS Workers Comp Board in support of this November 22, 2017 SLU Guideline Proposal. All correspondence to the NYS Workers' Compensation Board can be sent to:

NYS Workers' Compensation Board

328 State St

Schenetady, NY 12305

To be certain, the original September 1, 2017 proposal provided certain special interests, including the business community, with vast reason to push the WCB for its adoption, or something similar to it, as it would have significantly reduced the monetary compensation to permanently injured workers. It is still possible that the business community will push for the adoption of something similar to the September 1, 2017 proposal, rather than the November 22nd proposal, over the coming month. For injured workers throughout the state we must continue to do everything possible to ensure that that does not occur and that the WCB's November 22nd proposal is adopted as a fair compromise on December 29th.  

As always, thank you for your support and the hard work you provide to your membership. Workers' throughout the state owe Nassau COBA a debt of gratitude for your efforts in fighting against the former proposal. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me directly or reach me at this email address at any time.  

Most importantly, Happy Holidays to you all! I hope to see you all over the Holiday Season.  

Sean Patrick Riordan, Esq.

Partner

McIntyre, Donohue, Accardi, Salmonson & Riordan, LLP. (previously known as Sherman, Federman, Sambur & McIntyre, LLP)

515 Madison Avenue, Suite 1118

New York, New York 10022

(p) 212-612-3198

(c) 646-831-6229

(f) 631-665-7409

sean@licomplaw.com