Decision  Paul S. Sloan, Jr. v. Construction Materials Service, Inc.

Date:	04/28/2009
Organization:	Department of Industrial Accidents
Docket Number:	DIA Board Nos. 007466-05, 030138-05
Location:	Boston

• Employee: Paul S. Sloan, Jr.
• Employer: Construction Materials Service, Inc.
• Insurer: Associated Employers Insurance Co., American Home Assurance

HORAN, J. The employee raises three issues on appeal from a decision awarding him a closed period of § 34 total incapacity benefits and ongoing § 35 partial incapacity benefits, but denying his claims of a psychiatric injury and a § 8(1)¹ penalty against American Home Assurance² for its failure to pay § 50 interest.³ We address one issue, and reverse the decision in part.⁴

¹ General Laws c. 152, § 8(1), provides, in pertinent part:

Any failure of an insurer to make all payments due an employee under the terms of an order, decision, arbitrator's decision, approved lump sum or other agreement . . . within fourteen days of the insurer's receipt of such document, shall result in a penalty of two hundred dollars, payable to the employee to whom such payments were required to be paid by the said document; provided, however, that such penalty shall be one thousand dollars if all such payments have not been made within forty-five days, two thousand five hundred dollars if not made within sixty days, and ten thousand dollars if not made within ninety days.

² The case was tried against successive insurers. Because the conference order and hearing decision obligated American Home Assurance to pay compensation, all references to the "insurer" in this opinion are to that party.

³ General Laws c. 152, § 50, provides, in pertinent part:

Whenever payments of any kind are not made within sixty days of being claimed by an employee . . . and an order or decision requires that such payments be made, interest at the rate of ten percent per annum of all sums due from the date of the receipt of the notice of the claim by the department to the date of payment shall be required by such order or decision. Whenever such sums include weekly payments, interest shall be computed on each unpaid weekly payment.

⁴ We otherwise summarily affirm the decision.