Case Law Update – Reliance Electric Co. v. Brightwell

On February 19, 2007, the Court of Appeals issued its decision in this case.  This case dealt with an insurer’s failure to timely file a form WC-2 before suspending benefits.  Under Georgia Workers’ Compensation law, an insurance company is required to file a Form WC-2 before suspending an injured workers’ weekly income benefits.  There is an additional added protection built into the law which requires 10 days’ notice to those suffering an on the job work injury.  In this case, the  WC-2 was filed with the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation less than 10 days prior to stopping weekly benefits.  The Claimant argued that the WC-2 was ineffective and was eventually awarded an additional 17 month’s of income benefits.
The Court of Appeals thought otherwise and held that the WC-2 was not invalidated altogether.  The Claimant got an additional 4 days of benefits, not 17 months of additional workers’ compensation benefits.  Interestingly, the Court of Appeals also remanded the case for consideration of attorneys’ fees.  It seems as if the Court of Appeals thought that this would be a good case for assessed attorneys’ fees even though the Administrative Law Judge did not think they were appropriate.
This case helps to solidify the requirement that an employer and insurance company must file a WC-2 prior to suspending income benefits.  There have been a long line of cases supporting this notion.  I recommend that attorneys dealing with this issue be sure to check the details about the WC-2, including whether and when it was filed with the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation.