Belfiore v. Penske Logistics LLC

209 A.D.3d 1095

175 N.Y.S.3d 777

In the Matter of the Claim of Wayne Charles BELFIORE, Claimant,

v.PENSKE LOGISTICS LLC et al., Appellants.

Workers’ Compensation Board, Respondent.

534617

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Calendar Date: September 14, 2022

Decided and Entered: October 6, 2022

Goldberg Segalla, Buffalo (James M. Specyal of counsel), for appellants.

Letitia James, Attorney General, New York City (Marjorie S. Leff of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Garry, P.J., Lynch, Aarons, Pritzker and McShan, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

McShan, J.

Appeal from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board, filed July 1, 2021, which ruled, among other things, that claimant did not violate Workers’ Compensation Law § 114–a.

On February 25, 2020, claimant, a hospital delivery driver, sustained head and traumatic brain injuries from a fall while unloading material from a truck at work and subsequently applied for workers’ compensation benefits. The employer and its workers’ compensation carrier (hereinafter collectively referred to as the carrier) controverted the claim, contending, among other things, that the fall resulted from claimant's preexisting medical condition and was not causally-related to his work. Various hearings ensued. At a hearing in August 2020, at which the carrier did not appear, the Workers’ Compensation Law Judge (hereinafter WCLJ), relying on the findings contained within the report of the physician who performed an independent medical examination (hereinafter IME), established the claim for an injury to claimant's head and for a subdural hemorrhage, a subarachnoid hemorrhage, an intraparenchymal hemorrhage, multiple skull fractures and a right posterior parietal scalp hematoma. The Workers’ Compensation Board, by decision filed December 11, 2020, denied the carrier's subsequent application for Board review, and that determination was affirmed upon appeal to this Court ( 203 A.D.3d 1431, 165 N.Y.S.3d 611 [3d Dept. 2022] ).

The carrier also raised the issue of a Workers’ Compensation Law § 114–a violation, alleging that claimant intentionally misrepresented his medical history during his testimony and during the IME. Following hearings on that issue, the WCLJ, among other things, found insufficient evidence that claimant knowingly made material misrepresentations to obtain benefits. By decision filed July 1, 2021, the Board affirmed the WCLJ's decision. The Board denied the carrier's subsequent application for full Board review. The carrier appeals from the Board's July 1, 2021 decision.

We affirm. Pursuant to Workers’ Compensation Law § 114–a (1), a claimant may be disqualified from receiving workers’ compensation benefits "[i]f for the purpose of obtaining compensation ... or for the purpose of influencing any determination regarding any such payment, [he or she] knowingly makes a false statement or representation as to a material fact." "Whether a claimant has violated Workers’ Compensation Law § 114–a is within the province of the Board, which is the sole arbiter of witness credibility, and its decision will not be disturbed if supported by substantial evidence" ( Matter of Strohschein v. Safespan Platform Sys. Inc., 207 A.D.3d 818, 820, 172 N.Y.S.3d 159 [3d Dept. 2022] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]; accord Matter of...