A ruling handed down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court may have opened the door for injured workers to receive partial disability in Oklahoma.
What Does This Ruling Mean for Injured Workers in Oklahoma?
The case at the heart of this ruling was Maxwell v. Sprint PCS. In the suit, a woman who suffered a knee injury on the job and received workers’ compensation benefits as a result her injury. After she returned to work, she applied for permanent partial disability (PPD), but the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission as well as an administrative law judge ruled that her PPD benefits should be deferred from the time she returned to work.
However, after the case made its way to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, it reversed the earlier rulings, stating that it is unfair to treat injured workers who can come back to work differently from injured workers who cannot return to work. The state Supreme Court’s decision to reverse the denial of PPD benefits to an injured worker who was able to return to work could have a huge impact on workers’ comp in Oklahoma going forward.
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