Susan Hussey v. Maine Turnpike Authority– The Appellate Division affirms the ALJ denial of Ms. Hussey’s petition for award on the grounds Ms. Hussey failed to meet her burden of proving she incurred Covid-19 at work. The employee argued on appeal the ALJ erred as a matter of law by failing to take administrative notice of how Covid-19 is spread.
Ms. Hussey worked as a toll collector. She worked with a sick co-worker on January 5 and January 7, 2021, and Ms. Hussey was diagnosed with Covid-19 on January 13, 2021. The employer did not dispute the co-worker was sick with Covid. Ms. Hussey testified to her interactions with the sick co-worker and the ALJ accepted that testimony. Yet the ALJ denied the petition because the record was absent of any evidence on how Covid is transmitted, an essential fact necessary to find the injury compensable. The ALJ acknowledged that ALJ Sands in Wooten v. Maine Turnpike Authority took administrative notice of a Centers for Disease Control Publication addressing how Covid is spread.
The issue was whether, in the absence of a request to take administrative notice of CDC or other guidelines, the ALJ was compelled to do so. The panel noted that ALJ’s have authority to take administrative notice whether or not requested to do so, consistent with Maine Rule of Evidence 201. Here, neither party asked the ALJ to take administrative notice. Hussey argued the ALJ was compelled to do so without a request. Reviewing MRE 201 the panel concluded administrative notice is not mandatory but rather lies in the sole discretion of the factfinder. The ALJ did not err by failing to do so.
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