My name is William R. Johnson and I am the Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Workers' Compensation Section. I assumed the duties of this office on May 4, 2005 and report directly to Hon. Raymond Krause, the Chief Administrative Law Judge of Minnesota. I am charged with all aspects of the management of the Workers' Compensation Section. I also conduct hearings in the Hearing Division of our Section. We are in the process of updating, correcting and expanding this website to make it more useful to those persons we serve. I am proud of the job that our Settlement Division and Hearing Division Judges do in providing speedy and impartial conferences and hearings. I welcome input from everyone who appears before the Judges in our Settlement and Hearing Divisions. We are always open to suggestions on how we can improve the job we do. We are tasked by the Legislature under Minn. Stat. 176.001 to:
assure the quick and efficient delivery of indemnity and medical benefits to injured workers at a reasonable cost to the employers who are subject to the provisions of this chapter. It is the specific intent of the legislature that workers' compensation cases shall be decided on their merits and that the common law rule of "liberal construction" based on the supposed "remedial" basis of workers' compensation legislation shall not apply in such cases. The workers' compensation system in Minnesota is based on a mutual renunciation of common law rights and defenses by employers and employees alike. Employees' rights to sue for damages over and above medical and health care benefits and wage loss benefits are to a certain degree limited by the provisions of this chapter, and employers' rights to raise common law defenses such as lack of negligence, contributory negligence on the part of the employee, and others, are curtailed as well. Accordingly, the legislature hereby declares that the workers' compensation laws are not remedial in any sense and are not to be given a broad liberal construction in favor of the claimant or employee on the one hand, nor are the rights and interests of the employer to be favored over those of the employee on the other hand.
You can contact me by telephone at (651) 361-7863 or e-mail at William.R.Johnson@state.mn.us.
Last Updated - April 30, 2009