Thought Leadership

In this case, the employer, Amick Farms, has offices in Maryland and Delaware. The claimant lives in Delaware and was hired to work out of employer’s Delaware office in February of 2020. His job was to deliver chicken feed, which he did to farms in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The claimant sustained work injuries on November 29, 2021, December 5, 2022, September 29, 2023, and January 7, 2025. Medical and disability benefits were paid for all of the claims, pursuant to Maryland law.

As permitted by Maryland law, seven months after the most recent work injury, the employer ceased making disability payments based on the advice of its medical expert. In response, the claimant filed a petition to determine compensation due with the Delaware Industrial Accident Board and a motion for reinstatement of benefits.

At an evidentiary hearing on the motion for reinstatement of benefits, the employer argued that Maryland and Delaware have dual jurisdiction and because Maryland was selected, the claimant should not be permitted to forum shop on issues as they arise. The employer also argued that there is no Delaware agreement to enforce.

The board did not determine whether there was dual jurisdiction. Rather, it noted that it has the authority, as agreed upon by the parties, to address matters properly before it in the context of the now admittedly appropriated filed Delaware workers’ compensation action. The board then went on to find that, based on the evidence presented at the hearing, there is an implied agreement to pay disability benefits, and that those benefits were impermissibly unilaterally terminated before the claimant agreed he was capable of returning to work. The board therefore ordered the reinstatement of disability payments.