Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance v. Commonwealth

The principal question in this case is whether the Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund, G. L. c. 152, § 65, must reimburse the insurer, Aetna Life and Casualty Insurance Company, for workers’ compensation benefits the insurer paid to Joseph Diliberto (employee) pursuant to a lump sum agreement. G. L. c. 152, § 48. The answer to this question depends upon whether the employee’s injury was a “subsequent personal injury” sustained “in the course of and arising out of *374his employment” under G. L. c. 152, § 37, as amended by St. 1991, c. 398, § 71, or the result of ordinary wear and tear on an already…