2007 Minnesota Statutes

176.179 RECOVERY OF OVERPAYMENTS.
Notwithstanding section 176.521, subdivision 3, or any other provision of this chapter to
the contrary, except as provided in this section, no lump sum or weekly payment, or settlement,
which is voluntarily paid to an injured employee or the survivors of a deceased employee in
apparent or seeming accordance with the provisions of this chapter by an employer or insurer,
or is paid pursuant to an order of the workers' compensation division, a compensation judge, or
court of appeals relative to a claim by an injured employee or the employee's survivors, and
received in good faith by the employee or the employee's survivors shall be refunded to the
paying employer or insurer in the event that it is subsequently determined that the payment was
made under a mistake in fact or law by the employer or insurer. When the payments have been
made to a person who is entitled to receive further payments of compensation for the same injury,
the mistaken compensation may be taken as a partial credit against future periodic benefits. The
credit applied against further payments of temporary total disability, temporary partial disability,
permanent partial disability, permanent total disability, retraining benefits, death benefits, or
weekly payments of economic recovery or impairment compensation shall not exceed 20 percent
of the amount that would otherwise be payable.
A credit may not be applied against medical expenses due or payable.
Where the commissioner or compensation judge determines that the mistaken compensation
was not received in good faith, the commissioner or compensation judge may order reimbursement
of the compensation. For purposes of this section, a payment is not received in good faith if it is
obtained through fraud, or if the employee knew that the compensation was paid under mistake of
fact or law, and the employee has not refunded the mistaken compensation.
History: 1974 c 486 s 5; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1975 c 359 s 23; 1976 c 134 s 78; Ex1979 c 3 s 49;
1983 c 290 s 112; 1986 c 461 s 23; 1987 c 332 s 45; 1992 c 510 art 1 s 11; 1995 c 231 art 1 s 26