05/22/14 PARASCANDOLO VS.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, BOARD
OF REVIEW, BRICK TOWNSHIP BOARD
OF EDUCATION AND
VINNY'S KING PIZZA
A-3209-11T1
The appellant held two part-time jobs when she was temporarily
disabled as a result of an injury at her employment by the Board of Education. She received temporary
disability benefits (TDB) through her employment at her second employer, where
both she and her employer contributed to the Temporary Disability Fund. Because
the Board of Education was not a "covered" employer under the
Temporary Disability Benefits Law (TDBL), N.J.S.A. 43:21-25 to -66, her TDB was
calculated solely on the wages earned from the second employer. Nonetheless, because she
received temporary workers compensation benefits from the Board of Education,
the Board of Review asserted a lien against her TDB based upon the subrogation
provision in N.J.A.C. 12:18-1.5, a regulation designed to implement our
decision in In re Scott, 321 N.J. Super. 60 (App. Div. 1999), aff'd, 162 N.J.
571 (2000). After examining the interplay of the TDBL and the Workers
Compensation Act when only one of two employers is a "covered
employer" under the TDBL, we conclude that the Board relied upon an
erroneous interpretation of its regulation; that the amount of TDB appellant
received was a "full recovery" and not a "double recovery "of
benefits and therefore, subrogation was inappropriate.
