Wade Stancil v. ACE USA (A-112-10; 067640)
An injured employee does not have a common law right
of action against a workers’ compensation carrier for
pain and suffering cause by the carrier’s delay in
paying for or authorizing treatment because 1) the
workers’ compensation system was designed to provide
injured workers with a remedy outside of the ordinary
tort or contract remedies cognizable in the Superior
Court; 2) in amending the Workers’ Compensation Act in
2008, the Legislature rejected a provision that would
have given the compensation courts broader permission
to authorize a resort to the Superior Court and
adopted a remedy that permits compensation courts to
act through a contempt power; and 3) allowing a direct
common-law cause of action against a carrier would
undermine the workers’ compensation system by
substituting a cause of action that would become the
preferred manner of securing relief.
8-1-12
