Board Has Become 'Persnickety Beyond Belief' on Form Details, Lawyers Say

Attorneys on both sides of the divide have complained for months that the New York Workers’ Compensation Board has been overzealous in denying appeals because of minor technical errors on forms, and an appellate court decision handed down last week appears to agree. In Gene Johnson v. All Town Central Transportation Corp., the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division on Thursday held that a worker’s appeal should not have been rejected simply because his attorney used an old appeal-request form — five days after the deadline for switching to a new form. “Un...