Board grants employer’s motion to suspend claimant’s TTD benefits. Claimant was incarcerated and still awaiting trial on violation of probation charges but had already been convicted of underlying criminal charges that put him on probation.

This case dealt with the application of Section 2353(d) of the Act, which provides that a claimant who is receiving disability benefits can have them suspended when he is incarcerated by the state after an adjudication of guilt. As of March 2011, the claimant was receiving ongoing TTD benefits for his work injury. The claimant was later charged with offensive touching and pled guilty on June 2, 2011. He was given one year of probation. Later that year, he was arrested and charged with violation of probation and incarcerated from November 18, 2011, through December 8, 2011, while awaiting trial. The claimant pled guilty on December 9, 2011, and remained incarcerated for that sentence through January 5, 2012. The claimant still had charges pending on another arrest and remained in jail until January 24,2012, when he pled guilty to menacing but was given a suspended sentence.

The employer filed a motion to suspend the claimant’s benefits for the entire time of the incarceration. The claimant would only concede that a suspension was permitted for the period from December 9, 2011, through January 5, 2012, after the guilty plea. As to the other periods of incarceration, the claimant argued they were the result of not being able to pay bail while awaiting trial. The Board held that the claimant’s TTD benefits should be suspended pursuant to the statute for the period from November 18, 2011, through January 5, 2012. As to the initial period of jail time, the Board reasoned that, although the claimant was awaiting trial on the violation of probation charge, he had already been convicted of the underlying charge resulting in probation in the first place. Thus, the statute’s requirements were satisfied.

Case Law Alert - 1st Quarter 2013