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Apr 15, 2025

Arkansas Court Denies Benefits to Good Samaritan Band Director

In a ruling that reaffirms Arkansas’ strict interpretation of its “employment services” requirement, the state’s Court of Appeals recently affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Commission decision denying benefits to the family...

Arkansas Court Denies Benefits to Good Samaritan Band Director Arkansas Court Denies Benefits to Good Samaritan Band Director
Apr 14, 2025

Louisiana Court Rejects “Borrowed Employee” Theory in Workplace Attack

In a decision that further defines the barriers to pursuing civil remedies in workplace injury cases within the Louisiana, a state appellant court recently affirmed summary a trial court judgment...

Louisiana Court Rejects “Borrowed Employee” Theory in Workplace Attack Louisiana Court Rejects “Borrowed Employee” Theory in Workplace Attack
Apr 10, 2025

Throwback Thursday: Hawk v. Jim Hawk Chevrolet-Buick, Inc., 282 N.W.2d 84 (Iowa 1979)

Background On September 28, 1973, at approximately 2:30 a.m., James Hawk II, the president, sole stockholder, and chief operating officer of Jim Hawk Chevrolet-Buick, Inc., died when his private airplane...

Throwback Thursday: Hawk v. Jim Hawk Chevrolet-Buick, Inc., 282 N.W.2d 84 (Iowa 1979) Throwback Thursday: Hawk v. Jim Hawk Chevrolet-Buick, Inc., 282 N.W.2d 84 (Iowa 1979)
Apr 8, 2025

NC Court Rejects Tort Claim for Workplace Fatality

In a decision that underscores the high bar for pursuing civil remedies alongside a workers’ compensation claim, the North Carolina Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment against the estate...

NC Court Rejects Tort Claim for Workplace Fatality NC Court Rejects Tort Claim for Workplace Fatality

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Nov 16, 2012

Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” Case

In what will likely be one of the last cases to be heard under Oklahoma’s court-crafted version of the “substantially certain” rule [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 103.04[2][e]] that...

Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” Case Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” Case
Nov 15, 2012

Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity Defense

Last week, at the 21st Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference® & Expo, in Las Vegas, I was happy to be part of a panel discussion regarding the “Future...

Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity Defense Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity Defense
Nov 14, 2012

New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability Rights

A New York appellate court, in Martinez v. Lefrak City Mngmt., 2012 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7330 (3rd Dept., Nov. 8, 2012), recently affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’...

New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability Rights New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability Rights
Nov 9, 2012

Live From Las Vegas!

4:30 PM (Pacific) I’m sorry that it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post. It isn’t that my mind has been on matters other than workers’ compensation. In...

Live From Las Vegas! Live From Las Vegas!
Oct 24, 2012

New York: Extraordinary Duties at Grocery Store on Super Bowl Sunday Mean Employee’s Death is Compensable

A New York appellate court recently agreed with the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that the death of a grocery store employee was causally related to the employment where evidence showed...

New York: Extraordinary Duties at Grocery Store on Super Bowl Sunday Mean Employee’s Death is Compensable New York: Extraordinary Duties at Grocery Store on Super Bowl Sunday Mean Employee’s Death is Compensable
Oct 23, 2012

Iowa: Court Approves “Uneven” Split of Death Benefits Between American and Honduran Dependents of Deceased Undocumented Worker

The Court of Appeals of Iowa, in Carter v. Alter Trading Corp., 2012 Iowa App. LEXIS 879 (Oct. 17, 2012), applying the state’s “equitable” apportionment of workers’ compensation death benefits...

Iowa: Court Approves “Uneven” Split of Death Benefits Between American and Honduran Dependents of Deceased Undocumented Worker Iowa: Court Approves “Uneven” Split of Death Benefits Between American and Honduran Dependents of Deceased Undocumented Worker
Oct 20, 2012

Iowa: Court Finds Evidence Does Not Support Requiring Employer to Bear Expense of Gastric Bypass Surgery

Because an injured worker offered no evidence, other than her own testimony, that her gastric bypass surgery had been beneficial to her work-related injury, it was error to find the...

Iowa: Court Finds Evidence Does Not Support Requiring Employer to Bear Expense of Gastric Bypass Surgery Iowa: Court Finds Evidence Does Not Support Requiring Employer to Bear Expense of Gastric Bypass Surgery
Oct 19, 2012

Illinois: Injured Employee’s “Dual Capacity/Dual Persona” Claim Against Corporate Officers of Employer Fails

In a recent decision by the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, Hilgart v. 210 Mittel Drive Partnership, 2012 Ill. App. LEXIS 850 (Oct. 17, 2012), the court held that...

Illinois: Injured Employee’s “Dual Capacity/Dual Persona” Claim Against Corporate Officers of Employer Fails Illinois: Injured Employee’s “Dual Capacity/Dual Persona” Claim Against Corporate Officers of Employer Fails
Oct 18, 2012

Florida: “Firefighter’s Presumption” Aids Corrections Officer’s Heart Disease Claim Related to Unknown Virus Infection

Construing Florida’s “Firefighter’s Presumption” [see § 112.18(1), Fla. Stat.], in Walters v. State, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 17887 (1st Dist., Oct. 16, 2012), a state appellate court recently reversed a...

Florida: “Firefighter’s Presumption” Aids Corrections Officer’s Heart Disease Claim Related to Unknown Virus Infection Florida: “Firefighter’s Presumption” Aids Corrections Officer’s Heart Disease Claim Related to Unknown Virus Infection
Oct 16, 2012

US: Injured Employee May Not Sue Insured Iowa Employer For Bad Faith Failure to Pay Workers’ Comp Claim

A federal district court, sitting in Iowa, recently granted an employer’s motion to dismiss an action filed against it by a worker who had asserted that he had been injured...

US: Injured Employee May Not Sue Insured Iowa Employer For Bad Faith Failure to Pay Workers’ Comp Claim US: Injured Employee May Not Sue Insured Iowa Employer For Bad Faith Failure to Pay Workers’ Comp Claim
Oct 15, 2012

Pennsylvania: Injured Worker’s Participation in Employer’s “Special Attrition Plan” Causes a Loss in Disability Benefits

Evidence that an injured worker attended his employer’s “Attrition Plan” meeting and signed forms related to the employer’s “Special Attrition Plan,” that provided for, among other things, a lump sum...

Pennsylvania: Injured Worker’s Participation in Employer’s “Special Attrition Plan” Causes a Loss in Disability Benefits Pennsylvania: Injured Worker’s Participation in Employer’s “Special Attrition Plan” Causes a Loss in Disability Benefits
Oct 8, 2012

Iowa: Lack of “Adequate” Remedy Does Not Mean Exclusive Remedy Provision May Be Circumvented

As observed by Dr. Larson, the exclusiveness defense is part of the quid pro quo by which “the sacrifices and gains of employees and employers are to some extent put...

Iowa: Lack of “Adequate” Remedy Does Not Mean Exclusive Remedy Provision May Be Circumvented Iowa: Lack of “Adequate” Remedy Does Not Mean Exclusive Remedy Provision May Be Circumvented

New Comments

  • trob: Thanks for the query. New York's going and coming doctrine is similar to that in place in the majority of jurisdictions. That is to say that for employees with a fixed place of work and who are on a relatively consistent work schedule, the commute to and from the residence is outside the course and scope of the employment. Often overlooked is the fact that the employee must generally have a fixed ...
  • ramivou: Is coming and going covered in NY?
  • 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...