The Oregon Court of Appeals recently affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Board decision awarding benefits to an 85-year-old worker who fainted while waiting for an employer-mandated vaccination [SAIF Corp. v. Kelkay,...
Oregon Court Affirms Award Where Elderly Worker Fainted For Unknown Reason Oregon Court Affirms Award Where Elderly Worker Fainted For Unknown ReasonThe Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawai’i recently held that while an employee’s negligent supervision claim against his employer was barred by workers’ compensation exclusivity, he should have been given...
Hawaii: Defamation Claims Against Employer Not Barred by Workers’ Compensation Exclusivity Hawaii: Defamation Claims Against Employer Not Barred by Workers’ Compensation ExclusivityIn Borough of Hollidaysburg v. Detwiler, 2024 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 243 (Nov. 19, 2024), a divided Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania held that to enjoy the state’s presumption of compensability, volunteer...
Divided PA Court Says “Continuous Service,” Not Level of Activity, Key to Firefighter Cancer Benefits Divided PA Court Says “Continuous Service,” Not Level of Activity, Key to Firefighter Cancer BenefitsIn a decision highlighting the importance of accurate work histories in medical causation opinions, a New York appellate court has upheld the Workers’ Compensation Board’s denial of death benefits in...
NY Court Affirms Board’s Rejection of Medical Opinion Based on Flawed Work History NY Court Affirms Board’s Rejection of Medical Opinion Based on Flawed Work HistoryIn a recent case from Tennessee, Byrom v. Randstad N. Am., L.P., 2012 Tenn. LEXIS 152 (Mar. 8, 2012), a special appeals panel of the state supreme court affirmed a...
Tennessee: Employee Denied Benefits for Unexplained Fall to Level Floor Tennessee: Employee Denied Benefits for Unexplained Fall to Level FloorUnder the “odd-lot” doctrine, accepted in the vast majority of jurisdictions, total disability may be found in the case of workers who, while not altogether incapacitated for work, are so...
Wyoming: High Court Finds Injured HVAC Worker Established “Odd Lot” Status” Wyoming: High Court Finds Injured HVAC Worker Established “Odd Lot” Status”“Danger invites rescue,” wrote Judge Benjamin Cordozo in his typical profound and pithy manner [see Wagner v. International Railway, 232 N.Y. 176, 133 N.E. 437 (1921)]. Cordozo’s pronouncement is generally...
New Hampshire Court Limits Firefighter’s Rule–Slip and Fall Action by Firefighter May Continue Against Homeowner New Hampshire Court Limits Firefighter’s Rule–Slip and Fall Action by Firefighter May Continue Against HomeownerA Special Workers’ Compensation Panel of the Supreme Court of Tennessee recently affirmed a judgment of a trial court that found a worker, a registered nurse, to be permanently and...
Tennessee: Combination of Injury and Cocktail of Medications to Treat Nurse’s Continuing Symptoms Equates to Permanent and Total Disability Award Tennessee: Combination of Injury and Cocktail of Medications to Treat Nurse’s Continuing Symptoms Equates to Permanent and Total Disability AwardIt has long been held that an injured employee should not be allowed to keep the entire amount of his or her workers’ compensation award and also the full common-law...
Federal District Court Grants Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence of Workers’ Comp Benefits Received By Plaintiff Federal District Court Grants Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence of Workers’ Comp Benefits Received By PlaintiffOne of the important axioms of workers’ compensation law is that, generally, the employer takes the employee as it finds that employee [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 9.02]. That...
Six-Day Delay in Getting Offshore Worker Medical Treatment For Stroke Supports Aggravation Claim Under Longshore Act Six-Day Delay in Getting Offshore Worker Medical Treatment For Stroke Supports Aggravation Claim Under Longshore ActWhat’s In a Number? Two years ago, when I got my current cell phone, the cell phone company randomly assigned my new number. I looked at the sticker on the...
Worker Claims He Was Fired For Refusing to Wear Safety Program’s “Mark of the Beast” Worker Claims He Was Fired For Refusing to Wear Safety Program’s “Mark of the Beast”Until a number of my high school classmates began to plan our 40th reunion gala several years ago, I had successfully avoided Facebook® and the other social media (I’m still...
Facebook Party Pics Help Defeat Worker’s Claim for Benefits Facebook Party Pics Help Defeat Worker’s Claim for BenefitsIn the great majority of jurisdictions, voluntary intoxication that renders an employee incapable of performing his or her work is a departure from the course of employment sufficient to defeat...
In Spite of Statutory Presumptions, Proof of Positive Drug Test May Not Be Enough to Defeat Claims In Spite of Statutory Presumptions, Proof of Positive Drug Test May Not Be Enough to Defeat ClaimsAn Ohio appellate court recently found that medical evidence presented in a death claim case was too speculative to support the required causal connection between a worker’s fatal heart attack...
Ohio: Cautious Medical Testimony Dooms Death Benefits Claim Related to “Poster Child for Heart Disease” Ohio: Cautious Medical Testimony Dooms Death Benefits Claim Related to “Poster Child for Heart Disease”Virtually every jurisdiction’s comp act has a “by accident” provision of some sort in its definition of compensable injury [for an extended discussion, see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 42.01,...
“By Accident,” the Oft-Ignored Provision in Workers’ Compensation Law “By Accident,” the Oft-Ignored Provision in Workers’ Compensation LawA Pennsylvania nurse assistant, who claimed she suffered emotional distress when she was fired for getting pregnant, may not pursue her tort claim against the former employer in federal court,...
Nurse Assistant’s Allegations That She Was Fired For Getting Pregnant Cannot Support Emotional Distress Claim Against Former Employer Nurse Assistant’s Allegations That She Was Fired For Getting Pregnant Cannot Support Emotional Distress Claim Against Former Employer
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