Cruz v. Central Jersey Landscaping, Inc.

In this matter, we consider four consolidated appeals that raise the question of whether the Legislature’s 2004 amendment to the schedule of workers’ compensation death benefits was intended to be applied retroactively. In two of these matters, the Workers’ Compensation judge concluded that the amendment was entitled to prospective application only, with the result that both of those claimants were denied an increase in benefits, which they sought to be calculated from the effective date of the amendment. In the other two matters, a different Workers’ Compensation judge reached the opposite…