The Georgia Court of Appeals decided Reid v. Georgia Building Authority, et. al on February 2, 2007. The facts in this case are familiar to any attorney who handles workers’ compensation cases. Ms. Reid was suffered an on-the-job injury to her hand. The injury was serious enough that Ms. Reid, who was sixty-six years old when she was injured, would not be able to do her housekeeping work for the rest of her life. In fact, she had been a housekeeper for her entire life. According to her doctor, she was permanently and totally disabled from performing her job as a housekeeper. Ms. Reid sought to have her claim deemed catastrophic. The Administrative Law Judge for the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation ruled in her favor as did the Appellate Division / Full Board. When the employer appealed to Superior Court, the decision was overturned. The Court of Appeals upheld the Superior Court’s decision and found there was not enough evidence on the record to show this was a catastrophic case.
There are several lessons to be learned in this case. The Court of Appeals starts the opinion by pointing-out that Ms. Reid’s attorney did not properly make citations to the record in violation of court rules. Later in the opinion, the Court of Appeals points out that Ms. Reid could have secured testimony from a vocational rehabilitation expert which was not done. In this case, the Court of Appeals needed more.
This is a bad case for employees. While Ms. Reid did not have a vocational expert, she had strong medical evidence from her doctor and through testing by a physical therapist which outlined her limitations. The Administrative Law Judge thought this was enough as did the Appellate Division of the State Board.
This case also illustrates another important point. For a claim to be catastrophic, the injured worker must show that there are no jobs available for him or her in “substantial numbers in the national economy.” Most often, this can be shown when an injured worker is awarded Social Security Disability benefits. Admittedly, this standard is open to a lot of interpretation. It is also a heavy and high burden to be taken seriously. As I counsel my clients, a claim is not catastrophic just because you cannot do your job or your line of work again, even for the rest of your life . Much more needs to be proven and the best place to start is with a well-respected vocational rehabilitation expert.
