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What's Hot in Workers' Comp

Appellate Division Affirms 74% Disability Award in Custodian’s Workers’ Compensation Case

Brooks v. Rutgers, the State Univ. of N.J., No. A-1013-23 (August 7, 2025)

September 1, 2025

by Kiara K. Hartwell

In Brooks v. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the Appellate Division upheld a workers’ compensation judge’s decision finding the petitioner 74% permanently disabled as a result of his custodial work for Rutgers. Rutgers had appealed, challenging the causal relationship between the petitioner’s job duties and his medical conditions, while the petitioner cross-appealed, arguing he should have been deemed 100% disabled. Deferring to the trial judge’s credibility determinations and reliance on expert testimony, the court affirmed the award, rejecting Rutgers’ claim of error and declining to disturb the judge’s assessment of disability.

By way of background, a full trial took place, including testimony from the petitioner, treating doctors and experts. The petitioner worked for Rutgers as a custodian between 2000 and 2013, before he was terminated for being physically unable to perform his duties. The petitioner then filed a workers’ compensation claim, alleging various injuries due to occupational exposure. While the parties resolved the pulmonary aspect of the claim, the petitioner filed a Verified Petition against the Second Injury Fund. 

Before working for Rutgers, the petitioner received two prior workers’ compensation claims, one for his low back (sprain with possible bulging discs) and one for his bilateral hands (bilateral carpal tunnel release). He also had prior surgeries on each knee decades earlier and noted learning disabilities. 

The petitioner testified to his job duties at Rutgers, including housekeeping, cleaning bathrooms, and hauling garbage, etc. While he admitted to prior health issues, he testified that his conditions worsened after working at Rutgers. He received injections to his low back and eventually underwent right knee replacement. The petitioner did not wish to give up his job at Rutgers, but a disability retirement was suggested and, eventually, was sent a letter of termination. He then applied for a disability retirement pension and Social Security Disability, receiving both after being found totally disabled.

Dr. Lamb testified that the petitioner could work in a modified duty capacity but felt uncomfortable releasing him to full duty due to his pain. Dr. Peacock testified as Rutgers’ expert, noting a lack of causal relationship between his job and his medical conditions. On the other hand, Dr. Horwitz, an expert in forensic medicine, testified for the petitioner, opining that his job duties caused the petitioner to be permanently and totally disabled. 

In November 2023, the workers’ compensation judge issued a written decision, finding the petitioner to be very credible, and relied on the doctors’ testimonies to find his job aggravated the petitioner’s pre-existing conditions. The judge found 74% disability, apportioning for the bilateral hands, bilateral legs, and lumbar spine with credit for pre-existing injuries to all except the left leg. The judge also dismissed the claim against the Second Injury Fund.

Rutgers appealed, arguing the judge erred in finding causal relationship. The petitioner cross-appealed, arguing the judge erred in not finding him totally disabled. 

The Appellate Division noted its scope of review was limited to determining whether the judge did not misuse her discretion and providing her deference in her assessment of the experts. The Appellate Division also indicated that Dr. Horwitz’s opinion was not a net opinion and that the judge did not only rely on his opinion. The Appellate Division found this case turned on the work specifically performed by the petitioner and that scientific data did not need to be presented in every case. Dr. Horwitz’s opinion was based on the findings in taking the petitioner’s testimony into account. The Appellate Division also deferred to the judge’s determination of the degree of the petitioner’s disability and affirmed the order. 

 

What’s Hot in Workers’ Comp, Vol. 29, No. 9, September 2025, is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We would be pleased to provide such legal assistance as you require on these and other subjects when called upon. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1 Copyright © 2025 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints or inquiries, or if you wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.

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The Supreme Court of Ohio has clarified that an administrative appeal under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2506 does not bar a separate action for damages and declaratory relief that could not have been pursued in the administrative appeal. The Ohio Supreme Court considered Sheetz, Inc. v. Centerville (2026-Ohio-3531) as a result of a certified question from the Southern District of Ohio. The question was whether Sheetz, the gas station/convenience store brand, was barred from seeking damages in a separate action since damages were not sought in their administrative appeal. Ultimately, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that res judicata does not bar a separate action for damages after ruling on an administrative appeal because R.C. Chapter 2506 is limited to judicial review and cannot grant affirmative relief. The case arose after Centerville’s city council rejected a site plan proposed by Sheetz, Inc. that had received unanimous approval from the City’s planning commission. Sheetz filed an administrative appeal pursuant to R.C. 2506 in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, and two months later filed a complaint for damages and declaratory relief under 42 USC § 1983 as a takings action with the city, city council, and other objectors as improper takings and a violation of due process, as well as interference with business and contractual relationship. The city and city council removed the § 1983 action for damages to federal court. Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas reversed the city council’s denial, and allowed the Sheetz project to move forward. Upon that ruling, the federal court issued a show-cause order questioning whether the § 1983 action was barred by the doctrine of res judicata via claim preclusion (which includes all theories of recovery).  Sheetz argued that Ohio courts of common pleas do not have authority to award damages or declaratory relief as party of the R.C. Ch. 2506 appeal, therefore res judicata could not be triggered to apply to the § 1983 action. Additionally, Sheetz moved to certify the issue to the Ohio Supreme Court, citing differing results between the second and sixth districts on this same issue. Centerville approached the question, not from a claim preclusion standpoint, but from the holding in Grava v. Parkman, Twp which states that a final judgment rendered on the merits bars all subsequent action based on the same transaction or occurrence.  In yet another approach, an objector argued that claim preclusion was satisfied because Sheetz could have raised its damages claims in the administrative appeal – Sheetz disagrees. In their analysis, the Supreme Court of Ohio broke down the elements of a claim preclusion analysis: 1) a prior final, valid decision on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction; (2) a second action involving the same parties, or their privies, as the first; (3) a second action raising claims that were or could have been litigated in the first action; and (4) a second action arising out of the transaction or occurrence that was the subject matter of the previous action. The Court held that R.C. Ch. 2506 does not permit a party to argue damages as R.C. Ch. 2506 limits the common pleas jurisdiction as if it were sitting on appeal, and therefore can only affirm, reverse, vacate, or modify the appealed order, or can remand the case to the administrative body. Further, the Court held that Grava’s conclusion that a final judgment precludes additional litigation for different relief is inapplicable under this fact pattern because it was meant only to apply to those matters in which the plaintiff brings the exact same case twice, but for new relief. The Court found Grava was inapplicable because Sheetz could have requested damages or declaratory relief in the R.C. 2506 appeal. Therefore, Grava would be nothing more than dicta if it even did apply. Going further, the Ohio Supreme Court disavowed Sixth Circuit precedent which, in reliance on Grava and other district court decisions, permitted an owner to seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alongside an administrative appeal. See Moore v Hiram Twp., 988 F.3d 353 (6th Cir.2021). The Ohio Supreme Court found that the Sixth Circuit had disregarded a critical decision in Community Concerned Citizens, Inc. v. Union Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 1993-Ohio-115, which clearly held that a R.C. Ch. 2506 appeal cannot be combined with a complaint seeking other claims for relief. Id. at ¶ 11. To that end, the Ohio Supreme Court has determined that the decisions Moore relied on (outside of Grava) are no longer good law, and that Moore was wrongly decided. The decision draws a clear procedural boundary: Chapter 2506 provides judicial review of an administrative decision, not a forum for independent claims seeking affirmative relief. Although Grava may place claims arising from a single transaction within the potential scope of claim preclusion, those claims are not barred unless the complete claim-preclusion test is satisfied. Because Sheetz could not have pursued damages or declaratory relief in its Chapter 2506 appeal, the separate action was not precluded. The remaining question for practitioners looking to apply or defend against this exception is when does the statute of limitations begin to run on damages and declaratory relief claims related to an administrative decision on appeal? A takings action in federal court has a 2-year statute of limitations, or as a state claim, 4 years (like the other tortious claims raised therein). Correlating this case with others, an administrative appeal will not likely toll the statute of limitations on claims based on a final decision by a municipal authority. Therefore, practitioners should look for these cases to be brought simultaneously.

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