A workers compensation claim can carry consequences long after the original physical injury. In Decision No. 74/08, 2008 ONWSIAT 651, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal allowed an appeal about interest on a pension that wasn't granted until nearly two decades after the accident.
In 1986, a chainsaw struck the worker in the face, causing significant injuries. In 2005, the compensation Board granted a 10% psychological disability pension retroactive to the accident date. The Appeals Resolution Officer later raised that pension to 20% and awarded interest on the additional amount. But interest was not awarded on the original 10% that had been granted by the claims adjudicator.
Under the Board's policy, the original pension didn't technically meet the requirements for interest because it hadn't resulted from an appeal level determination. The worker challenged that outcome.
The Tribunal accepted that the policy's strict wording would usually prevent interest in those circumstances. It nevertheless found exceptional circumstances. The worker had gone approximately 20 years without being compensated for the psychological impairment. It was also arbitrary to distinguish between the original pension and the increase when both reflected the same delayed compensation for the same condition.
The appeal was allowed. The decision shows how an adjudicator can sometimes recognize exceptional unfairness in the application of detailed benefit policies, rather than assuming that every technically correct distinction will produce a defensible result. Its precise statutory and policy context is historical, and current interest entitlements must be assessed under the rules now in force.
Source note: This analysis relies on WSIAT's official published counsel summary of Decision No. 74/08. The historical full reasons weren't accessible.