In a real “head-scratcher,” an Arkansas appellate court, relying on a 50-year-old decision of the state’s Supreme Court, held that the Arkansas Commission did not err when it determined that...
Arkansas Carrier Wins: Requires Premiums Be Paid on Worker’s Earnings, Then Says He Was Independent Contractor Arkansas Carrier Wins: Requires Premiums Be Paid on Worker’s Earnings, Then Says He Was Independent ContractorLast Wednesday (March 25), North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed Executive Order 2020-12 that, as of March 13, 2020, purports to extend special worker compensation protections to first responders, health...
New Feature: Opinion Mondays — In the COVID-19 Medical Crisis, Who Is on the Front Line? New Feature: Opinion Mondays — In the COVID-19 Medical Crisis, Who Is on the Front Line?Acknowledging that when South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Commission makes a credibility determination based on substantial evidence, that credibility finding itself is substantial evidence, and factual findings properly based on such...
SC Supreme Court Stresses Commission May Not Use Credibility as a Wild Card SC Supreme Court Stresses Commission May Not Use Credibility as a Wild CardA California appellate court affirmed a $2.9 million judgment entered against a former movie industry employer who botched the green card application process of one of its foreign employees, resulting...
$2.9 Million California Judgment Against Employer Stands in Muddled Green Card Application Case $2.9 Million California Judgment Against Employer Stands in Muddled Green Card Application CaseConstruing South Dakota’s “no progress” rule [S.D. Admin. R. 47:03:01:09], which allows the state’s Department of Labor to dismiss a workers’ compensation petition when there has been “no activity for...
SD Supreme Court Construes State’s “No Progress” Rule in Comp Cases SD Supreme Court Construes State’s “No Progress” Rule in Comp CasesReversing a lower appellate court, the Supreme Court of Texas held that because the summary judgment evidence established that a deputy sheriff — who died in a vehicular accident involving...
TX Deputy’s Fatal Injuries While Traveling Home in Patrol Car Were Compensable TX Deputy’s Fatal Injuries While Traveling Home in Patrol Car Were CompensableCautioning that the analysis of the case by the state’s Department of Labor had come “perilously close to the prohibited concept of contributory negligence or fault,” the Supreme Court of...
SD Supreme Court Stresses Fault and Negligence Have No Role in Workers’ Comp Disputes SD Supreme Court Stresses Fault and Negligence Have No Role in Workers’ Comp DisputesConstruing the “dual purpose” rule, as utilized in Mississippi, the state’s Court of Appeals, in a deeply divided (6-4) decision, affirmed a decision of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission that...
Personal Deviation Sinks Mississippi Salesman’s Claim Personal Deviation Sinks Mississippi Salesman’s ClaimA New York appellate court affirmed a determination by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that an employer violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 120 — the state’s anti-retaliation statute —...
NY Employer’s Quick Firing After Employee’s Injury Was Retaliatory NY Employer’s Quick Firing After Employee’s Injury Was RetaliatoryA New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that directed that a claimant be weaned from his narcotic prescription medications in accordance with the...
NY Court Affirms Board’s Decision to Require Weaning From Opioids NY Court Affirms Board’s Decision to Require Weaning From OpioidsAllegations that a New Jersey company maintained an unwritten policy of avoiding the use of a lock-out, tag-out (“LOTO”) safety feature on a machine because doing so would require a...
Jury-Rigged “Safety” Mechanism Subjects NJ Employer to Substantially Certain Tort Claim Jury-Rigged “Safety” Mechanism Subjects NJ Employer to Substantially Certain Tort ClaimWhere a residential counselor at a Pennsylvania inpatient psychiatric facility sought and successfully secured a $40,000 settlement from her employer in a workers’ compensation proceeding in connection with injuries she...
Settlement of Comp Claim Bars Subsequent Civil Action Against Employer on “Third Party Attack” Theory Settlement of Comp Claim Bars Subsequent Civil Action Against Employer on “Third Party Attack” Theory