Supreme Court Clarifies Assessment of Penalties for Employer's Failure to Pay TTD

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a penalty may be properly imposed where an employer or its carrier fails to make timely temporary total disability benefit payments. Delbert Costa Jr. worked for the County of Hawaii's Department of Water Supply. He reported a stress injury in May 2012. The county filed a report contesting compensability, pending investigation and a medical examination. The county did not deny that temporary total disability benefits would be due to Costa if the injury was determined to be compensable, and it sent Costa a letter acknowledging that if his clai...