Code of Massachusetts Regulations
452 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
Title 452 CMR 1.00 - Adjudicatory Rules of the Industrial Accident Board
Section 1.21 - Third Party Liability

(1) When an employee who claims or receives benefits under M.G.L. c. 152 seeks damages from some other person or entity other than the employer or its workers' compensation insurer, within the meaning of M.G.L. c. 152, § 15, the employee shall immediately notify the insurer by certified mail of the commencement of the action. Where the workers' compensation insurer proceeds to enforce the liability of such third person, it shall notify the employee in the same manner.

(2) Where the employee or the workers' compensation insurer recovers judgment or reaches a settlement in a civil action in any court, the terms of such judgment or settlement shall be reported immediately to the Department as well as to the appropriate rating bureau as required by M.G.L. c. 152, § 53A(4).

(3) When the parties elect to submit to the jurisdiction of the Department, the settlement by agreement shall be in writing and in conformity with the guidelines and format prescribed by the Department. Approval authority statutorily residing in the Reviewing Board and the Board may be delegated to an individual administrative law judge or administrative judge by the Senior Judge.

(4) A hearing on the merits of the proposed settlement will be held if requested by the parties. In the alternative, the parties may waive their right to a hearing and submit the executed settlement agreement to the designated judge for review and disposition, except when a third party settlement is conditioned upon the approval of a lump sum settlement. In that circumstance, a hearing on the merits of both agreements must be heard by the same judge.