Worker's Compensation - Supreme Court Overturns Decision of Commissioner and Appellate Panel Due to Unreasonable Curtailment of our Cross Examination of Medical Doctor:
The law sometimes allows courts to appoint impartial doctors to examine parties before them, but the key to this is impartiality. In this case the Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Commission selected a doctor who routinely worked for insurance companies. When we tried to question the doctor about this bias the Commission stopped us from doing so and we appealed. The state Supreme Court agreed with our view, reversed the Commission and our client began receiving her benefits again. New England Electric Co. v. Freeman, 453 A.2d 756 (R.I. 1984).