Herzog v. Department of Labor & Industries

Some recipients of workers' compensation disability payments are also entitled to social security payments. When this is so, federal law prohibits the combined benefits from exceeding 80 percent of the recipient's average current earnings at the time the disability was suffered. Combined benefits exceeding this level must be reduced. 1 Federal law permits a state to take full advan tage of this by permitting the reduction to be taken entirely from the state benefits. 2 Washington has accepted this largess by the enactment of RCW 51.32.220. 3

The dispute in this case is about how this reduction…