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Aldrich v. City of Lumber City2/16/2001
On August 25, 1989, appellant Bobby Aldrich, then a police officer for Lumber City, was struck by lightning while he was on duty. He sought workers' compensation benefits, alleging the lightning strike aggravated his pre-existing diabetes and caused other injuries. An administrative law judge of the State Board of Workers' Compensation ("Board") initially denied his request for benefits. On May 3, 1991, however, the appellate division of the Board awarded him total disability benefits.
On July 31, 1994, Aldrich accepted employment with the City of Alamo as a police officer. Three months later, Aldrich had an automobile accident while on duty and sought workers' compensation benefits as a result of that accident, or in the alternative a change of condition in the injuries resulting from the lightning strike suffered while he was employed by Lumber City. Lumber City discovered that Aldrich was employed by the City of Alamo, suspended Aldrich's total disability benefits received as a result of the lightning strike, and sought to controvert his new claim for benefits for the automobile accident. At an evidentiary hearing before the Board, a claims adjuster for the insurer for Lumber City denied knowledge of Aldrich's return to work with the City of Alamo, in spite of Aldrich's testimony to the contrary. In addition, Aldrich admitted that he had not informed the Board he had accepted employment with the Department of Family and Child Services ("DFACS") in 1991 while his appeal was pending from the denial of his initial request for benefits, or that he had accepted employment as a security guard at a fast food restaurant in 1992. Aldrich also admitted he knew he was not entitled to the benefits and had not returned any of the money to his employer. The ALJ found Aldrich's testimony less than credible and noted several instances where Aldrich had engaged in deceptive behavior, but did not make a specific finding of fraud.
The ALJ denied Aldrich's request for additional benefits and ordered that Aldrich return the benefits he had received since February 7, 1991, the date he accepted employment with DFACS, finding that as of that date his diabetic condition had returned to the state it had been before the lightning strike. The ruling was affirmed on appeal. This Court granted Aldrich's petition for certiorari to address whether OCGA § 34-9-104 prohibits a repayment award for workers' compensation benefits received prior to the last award establishing an employee's physical condition or status.
Conceding his liability for repayment of amounts received after May 3, 1991, the date he was awarded total disability benefits, Aldrich argues it was error for the ALJ to order him to repay those benefits covering the period from the date he accepted employment with DFACS (February 7, 1991) to May 3, 1991. Aldrich asserts that language in OCGA § 34-9-104 prohibits the ordered repayment of the contested portion of the benefits.
The repayment of overpaid workers' compensation benefits is a relatively new concept in Georgia law. In 1978, the portion of the workers' compensation statute at issue was amended. The plain language of the amended statute reflects the legislature intended to provide a means to employers to recover overpayments. OCGA § 34-9-104. Previously, the Board had authority to make an award based on a change of condition "ending, diminishing or increasing the compensation previously awarded," but had no authority to allow for the recovery of overpayments. Ga. Code Ann. § 114-709 (1973). To resolve this problem, the General Assembly specifically provided for recovery of overpayment by enacting OCGA § 34-9-104 (d) (1), which states:
Subject to the limitation i
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