If you have been through the Minnesota workers’ compensation system, you are probably well aware of the fact that it’s not always fair to injured workers. In fact, in many respects, the deck is stacked against injured workers.
Nothing is more frustrating than seeing an injured worker get shortchanged because of an innocent mistake, ambiguous language within the law, or because the benefits provided by workers’ compensation are simply inadequate to fully address the full extent of their losses.

Major changes to the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act don’t happen often, and it’s usually a long process to make changes to the law. Nonetheless, I’d love to see the Minnesota legislature take up the challenge of making this change to the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act to make things more fair for injured workers.

Repeal of Minn. Stat. §176.021, Subd. 7.

This portion of the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act provides in relevant part, that:

If an employee covered by the Minnesota State Retirement System receives total and permanent disability benefits pursuant to section 352.113 or disability benefits pursuant to sections 352.95 and 352B.10, the amount of disability benefits shall be deducted from workers’ compensation benefits otherwise payable. If an employee covered by the teacher’s retirement fund receives total and permanent disability benefits pursuant to section 354.48, the amount of disability benefits must be deducted from workers’ compensation benefits otherwise payable.