| Date: | 04/01/1999 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Department of Industrial Accidents |
| Docket Number: | DIA Board No. 067845-86 |
| Location: | Boston |
- Employee: Donald A. Yates
- Employer: ASCAP
- Insurer: Commerce and Industry
WILSON, J. The employee appeals from a decision in which an administrative judge denied and dismissed his claim for various closed periods of incapacity benefits related to an industrial injury of a psychological nature. The claim has been the subject of six prior hearing and reviewing board decisions. In the most recent of these, Yates v. ASCAP, 11 Mass. Workers’ Comp. Rep. 447 (1997) ("Yates III"), the reviewing board reversed an administrative judge’s denial of the employee’s claim on the grounds of no liability, determining that liability was established as a matter of law. Id. at 454-456. The reviewing board therefore recommitted the case to the administrative judge for further findings on the narrow issue of the extent of the employee’s incapacity. We reverse the latest decision in part, and recommit the case a fourth time, as the administrative judge who decided the case de novo on recommittal based his decision largely on his discrediting of the employee’s testimony, without actually having heard it.