View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2009/09/01/103435.htm
New Yorkers who suffer a permanent partial disability can be paid workers’ compensation benefits in a single, lump sum if they so choose, under a new law signed by Gov. David Paterson.
The law changes the payment structure from incremental payments. Under the law change, a worker can request the lump sum payment method if he or she chooses.
The law change stems from a 2007 court battle over the decision by the Workers’ Compensation Board to pay loss of use awards to an injured worker as one lump sum, rather than periodically over time.
That decision was ultimately overturned by The New York Court of Appeals, which said the legislature must authorize any changes to the payment schedule.
The lump sum payments would be made without commutation for their value.
The law went into effect immediately.