New York Workers' Compensation Board gets new head, faces challenges

Governor David Patterson has appointed former workers' compensation judge Robert Beloten to the top post at the troubled New York Workers' Compensation Board, The New York Times reports.

Mr. Beloten has spent 17 years as a workers' compensation judge in Jamaica, Queens, before he became a commissioner this May. His chairmanship is not subject to Senate confirmation because of this prior position.

The New York workers' compensation system has lately come under attack as an inefficient, ineffective system - a nightmare for claimants, lawyers and employers alike. Though the Board has instituted some changes over the last few years they have done little to silence the calls for reform. Obviously, the new chairman is under tremendous pressure to deliver substantial change.

Recognizing this and wasting no time, Mr. Beloten promised to shorten the wait claimants must endure before they receive workers' compensation benefits, great news for both New York workers' compensation lawyers and their clients. He also praised the progress Zachary Weiss and Governor Patterson have made over the last few years, pledging to continue their work.

“It’s an area where you can try to make people as whole as possible, to try to put them in the same position they had before they were injured,” Mr. Beloten said.

Lawyers with experience working in New York's workers' compensation system are familiar with this sort of statement. They have heard words like these from Mr. Beloten's predecessors plenty of times before. It will be up to Mr. Beloten to prove he can match action to his rhetoric.

[The New York Times via City Room]