The insurer sought reconsideration of the Tribunal’s decision that it was not entitled to deduct a long-term disability settlement from IRBs; the claimant sought reconsideration of the Tribunal’s decision that a special award was not payable. Vice Chair Boyce rejected both reconsideration requests. He found no error of law relating to the Tribunal’s conclusions about “gross weekly payment for loss of income” and rejected the insurer’s arguments regarding double recovery. The claimant’s receipt of LTD benefits was not a payment “under an income continuation benefit plan”, but rather a payment to settle a legal obligation resulting from litigation. The Tribunal’s decision not to grant a special award was within its discretion. The claimant was not automatically entitled to a special award simply because she recovered IRBs in the dispute. The insurer showed that it was not being “stubborn” or “inflexible” because it continued to obtain updated IRB reports as new information was received. The insurer’s position regarding deductibility of the LTD settlement was a genuine dispute that the parties had differing views on interpretation.
