Pardalis & Nohavicka Insurance Law Update: State Insurance Fund Permitted to Assert Workers' Comp Lien on BI Settlement Proceeds

The phrase “recovery from such other”  in Workers Compensation Law §29(1), which governs the rights and obligations of employees and compensation carriers with respect to actions arising from injuries caused by third-party tortfeasors, does not limit the enforcement of the WC lien solely as against a negligent tortfeasor who caused the employee’s injury. The purpose of the phrase is to apply the WC lien to the proceeds of any litigation for the same injury for which the applicant has also received WC benefits. The paucity of any case law on that particular point is not testament to uncertainty, but rather to its clarity.

Commissioners of the State Ins. Fund v Gyeltsen
http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/pdfs/2015/2015_30164.pdf

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