In a deeply divided (3-2) memorandum decision, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed a decision rejecting the claim of a cashier at a gaming parlor who contended...
W. Va Claimant’s PTSD Claim Fails in Spite of Her Use of Earlier Case as a “Template” W. Va Claimant’s PTSD Claim Fails in Spite of Her Use of Earlier Case as a “Template”Construing Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(4)(D) (Supp. 2019), which indicates that a compensable injury must be established by medical evidence supported by objective findings [emphasis mine], an Arkansas appellate court...
Arkansas Muscle Strain Claim May Be Compensable Where Physician Did Not Observe Spasms Arkansas Muscle Strain Claim May Be Compensable Where Physician Did Not Observe SpasmsAn injured employee is barred by operation of Colorado’s Workers’ Compensation Act’s exclusivity and co-employee immunity principles from bringing a UM/UIM benefits action against a co-employee vehicle owner’s insurer for...
Colorado High Court Says Injured Employee May Not Recover Via Co-Employee’s UM/UIM Policy Colorado High Court Says Injured Employee May Not Recover Via Co-Employee’s UM/UIM PolicyAn Arkansas appellate court affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to an employee who suffered mysterious GI bleeding while completing workers’ compensation claims forms at his employer’s facility, and...
Arkansas Court Stresses Difference Between “Idiopathic” and “Unexplained” Arkansas Court Stresses Difference Between “Idiopathic” and “Unexplained”Where an Alabama resident sustained injuries in a work-related vehicular accident in Alabama, she could seek workers’ compensation benefits before an Alabama court in spite of a broad provision in...
Alabama Trucker Not Bound by Jurisdictional Limitation in Her Employment Agreement Alabama Trucker Not Bound by Jurisdictional Limitation in Her Employment AgreementWhere an employee retired in 2014, and was determined to be disabled by an occupational disease in 2016, at which time his employer had no workers’ compensation policy in effect–and...
NY Court Remands Case Where Occupational Disease Disablement Date Was Close to Date Policy Lapsed NY Court Remands Case Where Occupational Disease Disablement Date Was Close to Date Policy LapsedA New York appellate court affirmed a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that found an injured employee had misrepresented his physical condition to his treating physicians–videotape surveillance showed...
Surveillance Video Leads to NY Board’s Finding of Disqualification under § 114-a Surveillance Video Leads to NY Board’s Finding of Disqualification under § 114-aWhere a chef/cook, employed by a non-profit organization, sustained injuries at her employer’s “Family Fun Day”, an event that included recreational activities, games and music, held on a Saturday for...
NJ High Court Allows Claim for Injury Sustained During Charity’s “Fun Day” NJ High Court Allows Claim for Injury Sustained During Charity’s “Fun Day”A New York appellate court reversed a finding by the state's Workers' Compensation Board that had denied workers' compensation benefits to a home health attendant who provided care to one...
24-Hour NY Home Health Attendant’s Stop at Personal Physician’s Office Was Not a Deviation from Employment 24-Hour NY Home Health Attendant’s Stop at Personal Physician’s Office Was Not a Deviation from EmploymentA federal district court in Illinois, construing that state’s law concerning retaliatory discharge claims, held–in relevant part–that a plaintiff’s factual allegations did not give rise to a claim of retaliatory...
Lack of Proximity Between Injury and Firing Found to be Fatal to Claim of Retaliatory Discharge Lack of Proximity Between Injury and Firing Found to be Fatal to Claim of Retaliatory DischargeApplying Virginia’s “actual risk” doctrine, which generally holds that simple acts of walking, bending, turning, or even climbing stairs–without proof of any other contributing environmental factors–are not risks of employment,...
Virginia Court Sticks to its “Actual Risk” Doctrine Virginia Court Sticks to its “Actual Risk” DoctrineReversing a decision of a state workers’ compensation judge, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, found that injuries sustained by a township librarian, when she and her husband...
NJ Township Librarian’s Injuries in Township Parking Lot Did Not Occur on the Employer’s Premises NJ Township Librarian’s Injuries in Township Parking Lot Did Not Occur on the Employer’s Premises