Joshua Davenport Secures Jury Verdict Increasing Permanent Disability Award in Workers’ Compensation Appeal

         Joshua Davenport won a jury verdict awarding a laborer, who broke his wrist and injured his shoulder while attempting to move a large appliance onto a forklift, increased permanent partial disability benefits.  After undergoing four surgeries to repair his wrist and shoulder, the laborer filed for permanent partial disability benefits with the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission.  The Commission ruled that the laborer sustained a permanent partial disability of 50%.  The laborer’s employer appealed the Commission’s decision to the Circuit Court of Prince George’s County, Maryland.

        At the conclusion of a jury trial, the jury awarded the laborer a permanent disability of 65%, which translates into increased disability benefits of approximately $44,000 more than originally awarded by the Commission.

        A central question in determining the extent of permanent partial disability is how the physical injury impacts one’s ability to work.  Both the laborer’s expert physician and the employer’s expert physician agreed that, due to his injuries, the laborer could no longer lift and carry heavy objects and thus he could not return to his former position as a laborer. Furthermore, the laborer was earning 55% less income in his new occupation.  Therefore, the jury determined that the laborer’s injuries significantly impacted his ability to earn a living and he was entitled to increased permanent partial disability benefits.