Smith v. James Thompson & Co.

BERGER, Justice,

for the Majority.

In this appeal, we again consider whether a claimant who suffers a work-related injury is entitled to disability compensation based only on a treating doctor’s instruction not to work. That was our holding in Gilliard-Belfast v. Wendy’s, Inc.1 Since the Gilliard-Belfast decision, however, questions have arisen about the scope and applicability of the “no work order” rule. The rationale of the Gilliard-Belfast rule is that, until the Industrial Accident Board decides the issue, a claimant should be able to rely on his or her doctor’s determination that the…