BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE
Atlanta, GA, September 13, 2024: On July 8, 2024, Governor Brian P. Kemp reappointed Judge Neera Bahl to serve another four-year term as Appellate Judge and Director of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Established in 1920 by the Georgia legislature, the State Board of Workers’ Compensation serves over 300,000 employers and more than 5 million employees.
The three-member Board constitutes the Appellate Division and is responsible for administering the Workers’ Compensation Act. Board members are appointed by the Governor for four-year terms. The current Board members are Chairman Benjamin J. Vinson, Director Frank R. McKay, and Director Neera Bahl.
The Board’s responsibilities are divided into judicial, administrative, and regulatory functions. In its judicial capacity, the three members hear and review cases when a party to a claim files an appeal from an administrative law judge’s award or order. The State Board of Workers’ Compensation has 16 administrative law judges in the Trial Division and four in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Division. The Appellate Division issues written decisions, either adopting, amending, or reversing the administrative law judge’s decision. These decisions can be appealed to the Superior Court, and further appeals may be filed with the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia, though such appeals are discretionary.
In its administrative and regulatory roles, the Board is responsible for efficiently monitoring all claims and benefit payments to injured workers, ensuring employers maintain required insurance coverage, approving insurance companies to write workers’ compensation insurance, approving employers to act as self-insurers, and participating in programs to educate the public on the Board’s functions.
Judge Neera Bahl, one of the speakers at the upcoming NRI Stories event on September 22, will narrate her inspiring journey into the field of law. More details can be found at this link.
