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Jan 6, 2025

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim

In Collins v. Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART), 2024 Iowa App. LEXIS 918 (Dec. 18, 2024), the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed denial of workers’ compensation benefits to...

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim
Jan 6, 2025

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence

In Spisa-Kline v. Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, 2024 Neb. App. LEXIS 750 (Dec. 31, 2024), the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the employer in a workers’ compensation...

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence
Dec 31, 2024

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits

Appeals Court Examines Going and Coming Rule The Oregon Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded a Workers’ Compensation Board decision that had denied benefits to a worker injured while...

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits
Dec 30, 2024

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

Insurer Had No Duty to Defend Intentional Tort Claim Against Co-Employee In Ortez v. Penn Nat’l Sec. Ins. Co., 2024 N.C. App. LEXIS 1017 (Dec. 17, 2024), the North Carolina...

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

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Jul 14, 2013

Note to Employers and Carriers: Don’t Give Up Too Early in Cases Involving Preexisting Disease or Condition

Eggshell Skulls There’s a rule most of us learned early on in the first semester of Torts in law school: that there is ordinarily no allowance for an already weakened...

Note to Employers and Carriers: Don’t Give Up Too Early in Cases Involving Preexisting Disease or Condition Note to Employers and Carriers: Don’t Give Up Too Early in Cases Involving Preexisting Disease or Condition
Jul 3, 2013

Missouri Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Have Established State-Wide Database of Comp Claims (and Claimants)

Yesterday (July 2), Governor Jay Nixon vetoed legislation [Senate Bill 34] that would have permitted created a state-run database system that would have contained basic information about workers’ compensation claims...

Missouri Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Have Established State-Wide Database of Comp Claims (and Claimants) Missouri Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Have Established State-Wide Database of Comp Claims (and Claimants)
Jun 28, 2013

Vermont: AMA Guides Are Mandatory for Impairment Rating Purposes–Not Diagnosis of Condition Itself

The Supreme Court of Vermont, in a split decision, recently held that while the AMA Guides (5th Ed.) are determinative with respect to “any determination of the existence and degree...

Vermont: AMA Guides Are Mandatory for Impairment Rating Purposes–Not Diagnosis of Condition Itself Vermont: AMA Guides Are Mandatory for Impairment Rating Purposes–Not Diagnosis of Condition Itself
Jun 10, 2013

Ohio: Court Reverses Award For Facial Disfigurement Where Commission’s Findings Were Inadequate Under Statute

An Ohio appellate court recently reversed an award by the state’s Industrial Commission that allowed a claimant $4,000 of additional compensation for facial disfigurement under Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.57(B),...

Ohio: Court Reverses Award For Facial Disfigurement Where Commission’s Findings Were Inadequate Under Statute Ohio: Court Reverses Award For Facial Disfigurement Where Commission’s Findings Were Inadequate Under Statute
Jun 10, 2013

Connecticut: Special Statute Providing Benefits to Police Officers and Firefighters Injured During “Commute” Did Not Apply to Injury in Officer’s Driveway

The basic “going and coming” rule, in effect in the vast majority of jurisdictions, is that for an employee having fixed hours and place of work, injuries sustained going to...

Connecticut: Special Statute Providing Benefits to Police Officers and Firefighters Injured During “Commute” Did Not Apply to Injury in Officer’s Driveway Connecticut: Special Statute Providing Benefits to Police Officers and Firefighters Injured During “Commute” Did Not Apply to Injury in Officer’s Driveway
Jun 5, 2013

Ohio: Supreme Court Reiterates that Mental Injury Must Be Caused By, and Not Merely Contemporaneous With, Physical Injury To Support Comp Claim

In a divided decision affirming a ruling last year by a state intermediate appellate court, the Supreme Court of Ohio has reiterated that in order for a mental condition (here...

Ohio: Supreme Court Reiterates that Mental Injury Must Be Caused By, and Not Merely Contemporaneous With, Physical Injury To Support Comp Claim Ohio: Supreme Court Reiterates that Mental Injury Must Be Caused By, and Not Merely Contemporaneous With, Physical Injury To Support Comp Claim
Jun 4, 2013

Nebraska: High Court Affirms Dismissal of Intentional Tort Action Filed Against Employer That Violated Multiple OSHA Regulations; Action Barred by Exclusive Remedy Defense

The Supreme Court of Nebraska recently affirmed a decision of a county district court that had dismissed a tort action filed against the defendant-employer by the estate of an employee...

Nebraska: High Court Affirms Dismissal of Intentional Tort Action Filed Against Employer That Violated Multiple OSHA Regulations; Action Barred by Exclusive Remedy Defense Nebraska: High Court Affirms Dismissal of Intentional Tort Action Filed Against Employer That Violated Multiple OSHA Regulations; Action Barred by Exclusive Remedy Defense
Jun 3, 2013

Durham, NC: Recovering from Appendicitis

As a number of my friends and colleagues already know, I’ve been out of commission for the past nine days.  I underwent surgery eight days ago for a ruptured appendix....

Durham, NC: Recovering from Appendicitis Durham, NC: Recovering from Appendicitis
May 22, 2013

Iowa: Injuries Sustained in Janitor’s Idiopathic Fall Found Compensable

Reversing a decision by a state trial court that had, in turn, reversed an award of workers’ compensation benefits in favor of a seventy-nine-year-old part-time janitor who had suffered an...

Iowa: Injuries Sustained in Janitor’s Idiopathic Fall Found Compensable Iowa: Injuries Sustained in Janitor’s Idiopathic Fall Found Compensable
May 10, 2013

Arizona: Scar on Neck Qualifies for Facial/Head Disfigurement Award

An Arizona appellate court recently upheld a workers’ compensation award in the form of facial disfigurement benefits where the injured worker, a truck driver, sustained a five-inch scar on his...

Arizona: Scar on Neck Qualifies for Facial/Head Disfigurement Award Arizona: Scar on Neck Qualifies for Facial/Head Disfigurement Award
May 9, 2013

Oklahoma: Workers’ Compensation “Opt-Out” Provisions Become Law

On Tuesday (May 7), Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law Senate Bill 1062, a legislative piece that purports to reform the state’s workers’ compensation system in two broad fashions:...

Oklahoma: Workers’ Compensation “Opt-Out” Provisions Become Law Oklahoma: Workers’ Compensation “Opt-Out” Provisions Become Law
Apr 29, 2013

Montana: Carrier’s Decision to Stop Paying For Pain Medication Did Not Justify Attorney’s Fee Award Where Decision Was Based On Prior Decision of Workers’ Compensation Court

Stressing that “reasonableness” is a question of fact and that the review the Workers’ Compensation Court’s findings of fact were to be affirmed if supported by substantial credible evidence, the...

Montana: Carrier’s Decision to Stop Paying For Pain Medication Did Not Justify Attorney’s Fee Award Where Decision Was Based On Prior Decision of Workers’ Compensation Court Montana: Carrier’s Decision to Stop Paying For Pain Medication Did Not Justify Attorney’s Fee Award Where Decision Was Based On Prior Decision of Workers’ Compensation Court

New Comments

  • trob: Excellent question. My thought is that the employer was following what it assumed was the typical practice of seeking to protect its "subrogation" interest in state court; in virtually all jurisdictions, the state trial courts are where subrogation issues are litigated. What differed here, of course, was that it wasn't a standard subrogation case, i.e., the employee's work-related injury wasn't ca...
  • ramivou: Why didn't they file it with the state Commission instead?
  • Thomas A. Robinson: I suspect that ACME could seek contractual indemnity, as you note, either from the staffing agency or its carrier. The goal of the Board or agency generally is to see to the proper award of benefits for compensable injuries. Allowing the "aggrieved" parties to sort it out later is completely consistent with the overall theory of workers' compensation. Many thanks for the comment. Best wishes.
  • Barry Stinson: I wonder if Acme's insurer could seek contractural indemnity from Variety's insurer outside of the WC system.
  • Michael C. Duff: The conceptual distinction is between joint causation and presumptive single causation.
  • Thomas A. Robinson: Sorry, I don't/can't provide legal advice. Best wishes, however.
  • Ken Smith: What can I do when my attorney blows my case with an incomplete RB89
  • Thomas A. Robinson: Good point, although the interesting thing about the case--at least to me--is that it discusses the important "injury by accident" issue. That issue, present in at least a plurality of state acts, is largely ignored by Commissions, Boards, and Courts these days. Here, also, the case was so fact-specific that even it had been issued as published, it would be factually distinguishable from many othe...
  • kathlyn gorman: It should have been noted in your discussion that this is an unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Thus, it does not constitute controlling legal authority.
  • Thomas A. Robinson: You're correct. Ordinarily, I can depend upon Alabama to provide me with at least one case for "the List." I'll bet 2022 will unearth something bizarre from the Great State of Alabama. Take care.