Yesterday (April 28, 2015), the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, in a 7–2 vote, declined to assume original jurisdiction in a civil action challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new and...
Oklahoma High Court Refuses to Fast-Track Case Challenging Constitutionality of Workers’ Compensation Opt Out Law Oklahoma High Court Refuses to Fast-Track Case Challenging Constitutionality of Workers’ Compensation Opt Out LawAn Arkansas appellate court affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that an employee was entitled to additional medical benefits when, some six months after an ankle injury,...
Arkansas Court Approves Award of Additional Medical Expenses Related to ER Visit Six Months After Initial Injury Arkansas Court Approves Award of Additional Medical Expenses Related to ER Visit Six Months After Initial InjuryRecent Federal District Court Discusses ERISA’s Strong Preemption Provisions As I have noted on multiple other occasions, one of the distinctive features of the workers’ compensation “opt out” scheme is...
Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves? Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves?In what Professor Larson would have referred to as an “upside-down” exclusivity case—where the employee tries to prove that her injuries were not covered by the applicable workers’ compensation law...
Virgin Islands: Going and Coming—Is Break Taken to Run Errands a “Lunch” Break Virgin Islands: Going and Coming—Is Break Taken to Run Errands a “Lunch” BreakThe Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that where a claimant delays the filing of a workers’ compensation death benefits claim because she was unaware, and could not...
West Virginia High Court Crafts Narrow Exception to 6-Month Statute of Limitations in Death Claims West Virginia High Court Crafts Narrow Exception to 6-Month Statute of Limitations in Death ClaimsE-businesses like Uber and Lyft, which utilize smartphone or tablet apps to connect passengers and drivers with vehicles for hire are beginning to carve out a niche within the economy....
SC Court Signals That Uber Business Model Probably OK in the Palmetto State SC Court Signals That Uber Business Model Probably OK in the Palmetto StateIn a memorandum decision, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to an employee who suffered a dislocation of his left knee...
West Virginia Employee’s Unexplained Fall Was Idiopathic And Not Compensable West Virginia Employee’s Unexplained Fall Was Idiopathic And Not CompensableOn Tuesday, a Pennsylvania appellate court held that a claimant, whose purported husband had been killed in a work-related rollover accident at a ski resort, had presented clear and convincing...
PA: Native-American Marriage Ceremony Establishes “Widow’s” Common-law Marriage PA: Native-American Marriage Ceremony Establishes “Widow’s” Common-law MarriageThe 6.5% assessment, payable by a Maryland employer or insurer to the state’s Subsequent Injury Fund on: (i) each award for permanent disability or death, or (ii) each amount payable...
Maryland: Subsequent Injury Fund Assessment Not Reduced Due to Retirement Offset Maryland: Subsequent Injury Fund Assessment Not Reduced Due to Retirement OffsetA hospital nurse, who fractured her humerus in a fall in her employer’s emergency room when her coat apparently became ensnarled in a wheelchair, did not sustain an injury arising...
Ohio Nurse’s Fall in Hospital ER Was Outside Course and Scope of Employment Ohio Nurse’s Fall in Hospital ER Was Outside Course and Scope of EmploymentAs I mentioned in an earlier post, juries in two civil actions pending before a federal court sitting in California will be allowed to determine if Uber and Lyft have...
Proposed Alaska Legislation Would Clarify That Uber and Lyft Drivers Are Not Entitled to Comp Benefits Proposed Alaska Legislation Would Clarify That Uber and Lyft Drivers Are Not Entitled to Comp BenefitsApplying Kentucky’s “up-the-ladder immunity” doctrine, a state appellate court vacated a trial court’s refusal to grant summary judgment in favor of a defendant corporation that had been sued in tort...
Kentucky Contractor Immune From Suit Filed by Employee of Subcontractor Kentucky Contractor Immune From Suit Filed by Employee of Subcontractor