GQ Corner
Q: Employer completed a bona fide job offer based on a designated doctor’s assessment of claimant’s ability to return to work. Employer sent the offer to the claimant via certified and regular mail. Claimant has apparently moved since she sustained the injury. She was working in George West, Texas but has now moved to McAllen, Texas, which is 154 miles away. Is this still a valid bona fide offer?
A: The Appeals Panel has indicated that the “geographical accessibility” of a job for purposes of determining whether a job offer was bona fide depends on the reasonableness of the commuting distance. In the absence of supporting evidence that the employee moved from the vicinity where he/she lived at the time of the injury in order to defeat the job offer, the reasonable geographic accessibility of the job offer should be measured in the context of where the claimant resided at the time the offer was made. You therefore need to look at the timing between the offer and the move as well as the reasons behind the move.
Q: We were paying a 5% impairment rating, but the employer just notified us the clamant died from non-work related conditions. Are the outstanding IIBs payable to the estate or do we suspend? If we suspend, what form do we file with TDI?
A: No, the outstanding IIBS are not payable to the estate. The benefits stop upon the claimant’s death. See Texas Labor Code Section 408.121(a)(2). You should suspend benefits and file a PLN-9.
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