NJ Supreme Court Takes Up Volunteer Firefighter’s Case for Benefits

 In New Jersey, Volunteer Firefighters have a special section outlining their entitlement to Workers Compensation Benefits from the town they serve.  The special section for Volunteer Firefighters was enacted by the Legislature to make sure that a volunteer firefighter, who is performing a laudable job receives temporary disability benefits, medical bills paid and permanency benefits if they are injured on the job.  Volunteer Firefighters are deemed to be at work during their travel to the firehouse or site of a fire. With some exceptions, a worker isn’t covered under the Workers Compensation Law while commuting to work.  It makes good public policy to provide coverage to Volunteer Firefighters because their service saves townships throughout New Jersey a lot of money by eliminating the need for a full time fire service and Volunteer Firefighters also save lives and property a benefit to the communities they serve. 

Supreme Court Accepts Appeal

The New Jersey Supreme Court accepted an appeal from a decision by a three judge panel in the Appellate Division which upheld the decision of a Workers Compensation Judge not to award temporary disability benefits to an injured volunteer firefighter.  The Workers Compensation Statute provides temporary disability benefits to volunteer firefighters.  It even provides temporary disability benefits at the maximum rate allowed for the year of the accident.  So why was the temporary disability benefit denied.  The Workers Compensation Judge found that the Volunteer Firefighter did not have a “wage loss” because the Volunteer Firefighter, at the time of the accident, was not employed.  The Firefighter had stopped working to take care of her ailing father.  The Appellate Division agreed with the decision stating that without a “wage loss” there could be no temporary disability benefits.

Focus On Wage Loss Misplaced.

The decisions rendered by the Workers Compensation Judge and upheld by the Appellate Division focus on the fact that the injured Voluntary Firefighter was not working.  The Judges also discount that the specific provisions enacted by the New Jersey Legislature set forth that the maximum rate of temporary disability benefits is to be paid to the Volunteer Firefighter.  Temporary Disability Benefits are usually paid at 70% of one’s weekly gross salary up to a maximum rate.  So the Legislature was providing a specific benefit to the Volunteer Firefighters and insuring a clear entitlement to the maximum benefit without necessity to review a Volunteer Firefighter’s paystub or invade their privacy regarding their salary to receive benefits.  The latter benefits were carved out specifically for Volunteer Firefighters only.  A Volunteer Firefighter knowing that they have specific benefits and coverage if they are injured can rest assured that they will be protected if they are injured.

Did the Workers Compensation Judge and Appellate Division panel of Judges make the right decision? 

We don’t think they did.  The Judges ignored the fact that the sections of the statute specifically carve out additional rights for Volunteer Firefighters.  The Judges considered taking care of your ailing father is not a job.  Caring for a loved one is more than a job.  The Volunteer Firefighter was working until her father got sick and she decided to care for him.  It is clear that she would have been working but for the circumstances.  So if she left her father in the care of someone else and sought employment and got the job, she would not be able to report to that new job because of her injuries she sustained fighting a fire.  Would she be entitled to Workers Compensation Temporary Disability Benefits then?  The nature of being a Volunteer Firefighter is that you are performing community service for little or no compensation.  Some Volunteers Departments get a stipend for clothes and equipment.  The Legislature, recognizing this, passed a special chapter to the Workers Compensation Law to provide specific benefits.  Setting the temporary disability benefits at the maximum rate was a conscious decision by the Legislature that the Legislature wanted to avoid delay in the payment of temporary disability benefits.  Was the Legislature contemplating delays in reviewing payroll stubs to determine the rate of temporary disability benefits?  Was the Legislature contemplating that no matter what the Volunteer Firefighters employment status, the temporary disability should be paid at the maximum rate?  It’s not clear.  What is clear is that normally if you are injured on your job you get temporary disability benefits governed by the applicable law regarding the amount.  Since being a Volunteer Firefighters isn’t a paid job, the Legislature passed a special section of the law governing payment of benefits, and they were generous in stating temporary disability to be paid at the maximum rate.  The generosity recognized the importance of providing benefits to an injured Volunteer Firefighter because someone who volunteered and was injured should be treated with honor and respect.  The Judges should have applied the Statute as its clear language read and not gotten into a discussion about whether the Volunteer Firefighter was employed.  The Workers Compensation insurance company charged a premium with the assumption that they would be providing temporary disability benefits to injured Voluntary Firefighters at the maximum rate.  Why would there be a need to have a conversation on what the injured firefighter’s wages were?  The Judges should have provided the temporary disability benefits, and if the Legislature thought it needed to clarify the statute, it could have amended it to do so.

Resources

Jennifer Kocanowski v. Township of Bridgewater

Update:

New Jersey Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Volunteer Firefighter