This week the Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case of Zamora v. New York Neurological Associates. The Court’s decision will be extremely important to Workers’ Compensation lawyers and their clients.

The relevant issues that will be addressed by the Court are whether or not a claimant with a permanent partial disability who was forced to stop working because of their Workers’ Compensation injury should continue to receive benefits unless the employer and/or insurance carrier are able to show that the work injury and the resulting disability has nothing to do with the claimant’s lost wages.

The Appellate Division’s ruling in Zamora held that once it is found that the claimant stopped working because of the Workers’ Compensation injury, the burden shifts to the employer to show that the resulting disability plans no roll whatsoever in the claimant having continued lost wages.

The Court of Appeals ruling will have significant impact on the litigation process in cases with similar facts.