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Court overturns magistrate's award of disability payments to injured truck driver

Ryder Integrated Logistics, Inc., managed to persuade the Court of Appeals to overturn a workers compensation disability determination in favor of its employee, Ronald L. Tatar.    Tatar suffered a back injury with sciatica in 2008 and was awarded partial wages under the workers compensation law (about 2/3 of his net income) for a closed period from September of 2008 until his return to work in May of 2009. Ryder disputed Tatar's claim and appealed the Magistrate's closed-period award. 

The Court of Appeals applied the newer Republican revision to workers compensation law to the case and overturned the award. The judges concluded that even though Tatar was disabled by a work injury for a closed period, he had not proved that there were no other jobs he could perform during that period.  Under the Republican revision to Michigan's workers compensation law, an injured employee must prove that he is disabled and that there was no other work available to him within the parameters of his disability. 

Thompson O’Neil, P.C.
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