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Sperling v. Board of Review5/7/1997
The opinion of the court was delivered by BAIME, J.A.D.
This is an appeal from the denial of appellant's application for temporary disability benefits. The Board of Review adopted the Appeal Tribunal's finding that appellant was barred from receiving disability benefits because he had obtained a lump sum settlement of his workers' compensation claim under N.J.S.A. 34:15-20 for the same injury. We agree with the Board's decision.
Appellant was involved in an automobile accident on November 2, 1992. At the time of the accident, appellant just had left his mechanic who had installed a water pump in his personal automobile which he also used for business purposes. Appellant was apparently driving to a prospective customer's office when his automobile was struck by a truck. Appellant was not hospitalized and returned to work. However, appellant visited a chiropractor when the pain in his lower back and neck persisted. On the advice of the chiropractor, appellant left work on December 9, 1992. Appellant claimed that he was disabled until July 1, 1993 when the chiropractor told him he could resume light work. In the interim, however, appellant had been terminated from his employment.
Appellant filed a petition for workers' compensation, claiming that his injury and consequent disability were work-related. According to appellant's testimony, in April or May 1993, he applied to the Division of Temporary Disability Insurance for disability benefits. The Division never received that application. On June 10, 1993, appellant's attorney filed with the Division a certification indicating that a workers' compensation petition had been made and that the case was contested. The Division sent a letter to appellant, dated August 11, 1993, notifying him that it had received the attorney's certification but noting that it had no record of a temporary disability claim. Appellant never responded to this letter.
On October 25, 1994, appellant entered into a settlement of his workers' compensation claim pursuant to N.J.S.A. 34:15-20. Under the settlement, $500 was devoted to counsel fees and court costs. Appellant received $1,000 in full settlement of his claim. On July 27, 1995, appellant applied to the Division for temporary disability benefits. However, the Division found that appellant was ineligible because he had received a workers' compensation award for the same disability. This appeal followed.
This appeal presents questions relating to the interplay between the Workers' Compensation Act (N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 to -128) and the Temporary Disability Benefits Law (N.J.S.A. 43:21-25 to -56). The purpose of the Workers' Compensation Act is to compensate workers who become disabled by reason of work-related accidents. N.J.S.A. 34:15-1. When originally adopted, "no provision made for workers who were unable to work because of accident or illness not . . . covered" by the Act. Janovsky v. American Motorists Ins. Co., 11 N.J. 1, 4, 93 A.2d 1 (1952); see also Bogda v. Chevrolet-Bloomfield Div., G.M. Corp., 8 N.J. Super. 172, 177, 73 A.2d 735 (App. Div. 1950). "To fill this gap, the Legislature enacted the Temporary Disability Benefits Law," Janovsky v. American Motorists Ins. Co., 11 N.J. at 4, which was designed to provide for the payment of disability benefits to persons with respect to accidents and sickness not compensable under the Workers Compensation Act. This purpose was made manifest by N.J.S.A. 43:21-29, which provides for temporary disability benefits for accident or sickness "not arising out of and in the course of the individual's employment or if so arising not compensable under the workers' compensation law." N.J.S.A. 43:21-30 also furthers this objective by barring d
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