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 BenefitsConstruing A.C.A. § 11–9–102(4)(B)(iii), which provides in relevant part that a compensable injury does not include any injury inflicted upon the employee at a time when employment services were not...
Arkansas: The Second You’re Off the Clock, You’re On Your Own Arkansas: The Second You’re Off the Clock, You’re On Your OwnEbola has everyone spooked. I read this afternoon that a Dallas health care worker who handled one or more lab specimens from the Liberian man who died from Ebola is...
Commentary: Ebola Has Everybody Spooked; They’re Even Calling Me With Questions Commentary: Ebola Has Everybody Spooked; They’re Even Calling Me With QuestionsDisruption Caused by Growth in Number of Temporary/Contingent Workers A few days ago, my close colleague, Robin Kobayashi, and I put the final touches on a new book, Workers’ Compensation...
Commentary: For Whom Are You Working? Ohio Court Creates Twilight Zone For Temporary Workers Commentary: For Whom Are You Working? Ohio Court Creates Twilight Zone For Temporary WorkersThe Wyoming Supreme Court, construing the statutory provision within the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act (“the Act”) defining “employee,” recently held that an an undocumented worker might be able to take...
Wyoming Court Says Undocumented Worker Might Be Able to Employ Ingenious Argument to Avoid Exclusive Remedy Defense Wyoming Court Says Undocumented Worker Might Be Able to Employ Ingenious Argument to Avoid Exclusive Remedy DefenseLike a number of other states, Oregon has a program through which its Department of Human Services provides home health care services to qualifying clients (state citizens), at state expense....
Oregon Home Health Care Worker’s Employment Is Broader Than Approved Task List Oregon Home Health Care Worker’s Employment Is Broader Than Approved Task ListIn Onderko v. Sierra Lobo, Inc., 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 4015 (Sept. 19, 2014), an Ohio appellate court recently held that in order to state a claim for retaliatory discharge,...
Ohio Court Clarifies Elements of Retaliatory Discharge Action Against Former Employer Ohio Court Clarifies Elements of Retaliatory Discharge Action Against Former EmployerA divided Supreme Court of Washington, noting that in Birklid v. Boeing Co., 127 Wn.2d 853, 904 P.2d 278 (1995) [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 103.04[3][c]], it had earlier...
Divided Washington Court Again Refuses to Adopt Substantially Certain Test Divided Washington Court Again Refuses to Adopt Substantially Certain TestOn Wednesday, an Oregon appellate court affirmed the denial of an injured worker’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits on the grounds that she had, without an appropriate reason, failed to...
Oregon Court Affirms Denial of Claim Due to Claimant’s Failure to Cooperate Oregon Court Affirms Denial of Claim Due to Claimant’s Failure to CooperateAn Ohio appellate court recently affirmed a jury’s determination that a home health care nursing director, who sustained injuries in an automobile accident as he drove from a restaurant to...
Ohio Jury Uses MapQuest Data to Help Establish Significance of Claimant’s Deviation from Employment Ohio Jury Uses MapQuest Data to Help Establish Significance of Claimant’s Deviation from EmploymentA California appellate court has sustained a demurrer to a complaint alleging, among other things, intentional infliction of emotional distress filed by a former employee of a car dealership against...
California Court Says Plaintiff’s IIED Claim is Barred by Exclusivity California Court Says Plaintiff’s IIED Claim is Barred by ExclusivityIn a divided decision, the Supreme Court of South Carolina today held that an employee’s injuries sustained in a game of kickball arose out of and in the course of...
Divided SC Supreme Court Says Injuries Sustained Playing Kickball Were Compensable Divided SC Supreme Court Says Injuries Sustained Playing Kickball Were CompensableThe $12,000 cap on claimant’s attorney’s fees contained in KRS 342.320(2)(a) applies to the entire “original claim,” including any interlocutory proceedings, such as as a medical fee dispute, held a...
Kentucky Cap on Claimant Attorney’s Fees Applies In Spite of Multiple Proceedings to Recover Benefits Kentucky Cap on Claimant Attorney’s Fees Applies In Spite of Multiple Proceedings to Recover Benefits
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