Carrier’s Challenges to Workers’ Comp Benefits 30 Years After Injury Lead to Bad Faith Penalties
Summary: Harris’ 1976 work-related motor vehicle accident left him a paraplegic which resulted in multiple medical complications. Thirty-one years after the accident, the workers’ compensation carrier challenged (controverted) some aspects of his medical care and required him to submit to an independent medical evaluation. The Alaska Worker’s Compensation Board ruled that several of those controversions were frivolous, unfair, or in bad faith and imposed a statutory penalty and reported its findings to the Alaska Division of Insurance. The Alaska Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission ruled the Board was not authorized to impose a penalty for some of those controversions. The Supreme Court of Alaska reversed that ruling and vacated the Commission’s reversal of the Board’s award of attorney’s fees, reinstated the Board’s award, and remanded to the Commission to award fees for Harris’ appeal in the Commission.