Workers' Compensation
Summer 2020

Updates on Workers’ Compensation Operations in the District of Columbia

The District of Columbia is not holding in-person informal conferences or Formal Hearings.  The informal conferences are being telephonically and the Formal Hearings are being held via the web.  The CRB has recently ruled that there is NO right to a physically proximate (in person) Formal Hearing.  Calesli Durant v. Washington Gas Company et al., CRB No. 20-167, AHD No. 20-211, OWC No. 694983 (August 25, 2020).  If a party objects to a web hearing, the party must identify with particularity how a video hearing impairs the ability to impeach a witness and impedes the ALJ’s ability to assess credibility.  General assertions that credibility assessments require an in-person hearing are not sufficient.

Additionally, OWC has moved to:

400 Virginia Ave, S.W.

Washington, DC 20024

All mail should still be sent to the Minnesota Ave address.