Board Bulletins and Subject Numbers

Revises Subject No. 046-237 Video Recorded Evidence: A Standard DVD-R (WMV or AVI) Format dated October 21, 2008. References to DVD-R and file types have been removed.

August 23, 2022

Beginning August 29, 2022, the Board will no longer be accepting video evidence via DVD-R and will be transitioning to receive video evidence via USB flash drive. DVD-Rs will be accepted for 60 days following this announcement. If a video is received via DVD-R after the end of the 60-day period, the submitter will be informed, and they will need to re-submit the evidence via USB flash drive.

Video recorded materials become part of the Board's file when a Workers' Compensation Law Judge (WCL Judge) admits such evidence as probative and relevant to an issue raised in a claim for compensation. The two most common examples of video recorded submissions are:

• evidence of activity in support of a claim that a claimant made a material misrepresentation of fact; and
• evidence of an independent medical examination.

The Board reviews video recorded evidence in three settings. First, a WCL Judge reviews video recorded materials marked and submitted for consideration as evidence. Second, the Office of General Counsel's Administrative Review Division and the Panel of three Board Members will review video recorded evidence as part of an application for review. Third, the Office of General Counsel's Legal Affairs Division and Board Members comprising the Full Board may review video recorded evidence in conjunction with a case accepted for Full Board Review.

For administrative and judicial convenience and economy, the Board now requires that the submission of video recorded material conform to a standard format. All video recorded submissions marked and played at the hearing must be certified by the submitting party as identical to the video recorded submissions on the USB flash drive which is marked and submitted to the Board as evidence. The video must be formatted so that as part of any subsequent administrative review, Board personnel may play the video recorded evidence on Microsoft's Windows Media Player or VLC media player. The video must be accompanied by a paper cover letter to identify the case that the video goes with, i.e., WCB case number and claimant name, as well as what is on the USB flash drive. Please print the Evidence Submission Template, complete the required information, and send the paper Evidence Submission Template, along with the video (on a USB flash drive) to the Board's centralized mailing address:

NYS Workers' Compensation Board
Centralized Mailing Address
P.O. Box 5205
Binghamton, NY 13902-5205

If a party sends a video on media other than a USB flash drive or the video is not viewable in either the Windows Media Player or the VLC media player, the Board will send the party an Acknowledgement of Correspondence Received (Form EC-88) to inform them to send the corrected video within 20 days.

The Board's revised policy regarding formatted video recorded evidence will take effect on August 29, 2022, and the Board requests that all parties cooperate in presenting this evidence in a format that will enable prompt administrative review.

See previous version SN046-237.