Shaheen & Gordon, P.A. is pleased to announce that Attorney Jared O’Connor earned a decisive victory that will have an immediate impact for New Hampshire workers. The published decision from the NH Supreme Court concerned the issue of job reinstatement in workers’ compensation cases.

The Appeal of Cover, issued in February of this year, was a victory wherein Attorney O’Connor convinced the court to strike down a Department of Labor regulation that excluded part-time employees from the right to reinstatement.

“The decision in Appeal of Cover is an unequivocal, decisive victory for marginalized workers in NH,” says O’Connor. “Previously, if you were a part-time worker (let’s say a single mom, or someone with disabilities), the Department of Labor had a rule that said you were not entitled to the right of reinstatement to your job even if the employer agreed that you had a legitimate work injury. We challenged that rule, and it was it was struck down by the NH Supreme Court.”

Thanks to this ruling, all part-time workers in New Hampshire will now have the right to be reinstated to their jobs if they have medically recovered from the accident within 18 months of the date of their injury, according to O’Connor. According to the NH Department of Employment Security, there are more than 180,000 part-time workers in the state who are now more secure in their rights because of this ruling.

You can read more about the Supreme Court decision by clicking here.