In Spade v. Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Inc., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49799 (E.D. Ky. Mar. 11, 2026), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky granted summary...
Federal Court (E.D. Ky.) Rejects Workers’ Comp Retaliation Claim Despite Sympathetic Facts Federal Court (E.D. Ky.) Rejects Workers’ Comp Retaliation Claim Despite Sympathetic FactsSmall contractors sometimes believe that keeping their payroll lean — two employees instead of three — will keep them outside the reach of the workers’ compensation statute. But the Virginia...
Virginia Court Counts Subcontractor Workers in Coverage Threshold Case Virginia Court Counts Subcontractor Workers in Coverage Threshold CaseIn Garcia v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 6549 (2d Cir. Mar. 5, 2026), the Second Circuit denied a petition for review filed by a...
Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore ActEvery dollar spent on workers’ compensation falls into one of two broad categories: benefits paid to injured workers—medical care and wage replacement—and the costs of delivering those benefits. The second...
New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering BenefitsRecent 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 SubcontractorIn a decision that has been not been designated for publication, the Court of Appeals of Virginia held that an employee cured his refusal of selective employment (“light work”) where,...
Virginia Employee Who Cures Light Work Refusal Entitled to Comp Benefits Virginia Employee Who Cures Light Work Refusal Entitled to Comp BenefitsOn Tuesday, a federal district court in Oklahoma, noting that claims arising under the workers’ compensation laws of any state are not removable under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1445(c), held that...
Federal Court Must Sever and Remand Oklahoma Retaliatory Discharge Claim Federal Court Must Sever and Remand Oklahoma Retaliatory Discharge Claim
New Comments