Appeals court hears challenge to judgeuse of G.L. c.152 15 to apportion jury award in Ware v. Erland Construction

The Massachusetts Appeals Court on Oct. 15 heard arguments in Ware v. Erland Construction Inc., No. 24P1170, over whether a trial judge improperly used Chapter 152, Section 15, to apportion a $750,000 jury award and thereby determine how much a workerscompensation insurer could recover.

Attorney Chris Subcheck, arguing for the plaintiff-appellant John Ware, told the court that the right at issue is "one of the most fundamental rights in our judicial system is the right to a jury trial," and said the judge improperly substituted his own factual findings after the jury returned a single damages number. Subcheck urged that the judge's use of G.L. c.152 15 was procedurally inappropriate in a post-jury context because it allowed the judge to decide factual questions the jury had not been asked to decide.

Paul Valentino, counsel for Liberty Mutual (the workers'…