In a divided decision, a New York appellate court recently affirmed a Board determination that a claimant, who had earlier been awarded PPD benefits and whose condition apparently worsened so...
Divided NY Appellate Court Finds Claimant's Need of Surgery Insufficient to Show Worsening Condition Divided NY Appellate Court Finds Claimant's Need of Surgery Insufficient to Show Worsening ConditionCiting Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the Court of Appeals of Maryland held that the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s approval of a settlement agreement that purported to release a dependent’s future claims...
Maryland Widow's Death Benefits Claim Not Barred by Husband's Earlier Broad Settlement Agreement Maryland Widow's Death Benefits Claim Not Barred by Husband's Earlier Broad Settlement AgreementA Pennsylvania appellate court held that where an injured worker resigned from his modified-duty position in order that he could be a “stay-at-home” dad, in part due to his injury,...
PA Injured Worker's Decision to Become Stay-at-Home Dad Proves to be Expensive PA Injured Worker's Decision to Become Stay-at-Home Dad Proves to be ExpensiveA Washington state appellate court held that with regard to an employee’s appeal from a decision of the state’s Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, while the clear language of Wash....
Washington Court Says Proof of Service Need Not Be Filed Within 30-Day Time Frame Washington Court Says Proof of Service Need Not Be Filed Within 30-Day Time FrameNoting initially that the pleadings of a party proceeding pro se must be held to a less stringent standard than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers, a federal district court in...
Law Firm Security Guard's Claim For Injuries Barred by Exclusive Remedy Rule Law Firm Security Guard's Claim For Injuries Barred by Exclusive Remedy RuleReversing a decision by deeply divided Court of Appeals (for additional details on that earlier decision, see my post from last year), the Supreme Court of Mississippi, in a split...
Divided MS Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals on Child Support Lien Issue Divided MS Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals on Child Support Lien IssueIn the continuing saga surrounding Pennsylvania’s Protz decision [see Protz v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Derry Area School District), 639 Pa. 645, 161 A.3d 827 (Pa. 2017)(Protz II)], the state’s...
PA Commonwealth Court Says Protz Decision Was Not "Fully Retroactive" PA Commonwealth Court Says Protz Decision Was Not "Fully Retroactive"As many of you know, as co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, I read — or truth be told, skim — many, many appellate decisions each year. Recently, because of...
Opinion Mondays: Anachronistic Longings — the Co-Worker Lunch Opinion Mondays: Anachronistic Longings — the Co-Worker LunchNoting that dismissal with prejudice is the most severe sanction available to the court in a civil case, and thus, it should not be readily granted, a North Carolina appellate...
NC Commission Erred in Dismissing Claim With Prejudice NC Commission Erred in Dismissing Claim With PrejudiceIn a decision that is likely to raise some eyebrows, a divided Supreme Court of Virginia, affirming an earlier decision by a lower appellate court, held that an injured employee’s...
Virginia High Court Says Permanent Impairment Computed Before, Not After, Hip Replacement Surgery Virginia High Court Says Permanent Impairment Computed Before, Not After, Hip Replacement SurgeryIllustrating what can happen when a workers' compensation carrier fails to notify its counsel of the carrier's receipt of important papers concerning a claim, a New York appellate court affirmed...
NY Carrier Fails to Notify its Attorney of Claimant’s Application for Board Review and Loses Appeal NY Carrier Fails to Notify its Attorney of Claimant’s Application for Board Review and Loses AppealIn a document published in February, the Congressional Research Service observed: “Workers’ compensation has been called a grand bargain between employers and workers … [under which] workers receive guaranteed, no-fault...
Opinion Mondays: While We’re Adjusting Our COVID-19 Masks, Is the Grand Bargain Being Altered? Opinion Mondays: While We’re Adjusting Our COVID-19 Masks, Is the Grand Bargain Being Altered?