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Jul 16, 2026

Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break

PA Court Finds a 15-Minute Break’s Brevity Outweighs Its Formality The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to a pharmacy technician struck by a...

Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break
Jul 14, 2026

Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field

Idaho Federal Court Finds Surveillance and a Full-Duty Release Defeat Workers' Comp Retaliatory Discharge Claim The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho recently granted summary judgment for a...

Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field
Jul 13, 2026

FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims

Risk-Exposure Evidence Alone Can Establish the Causal Link, Justices Hold Last Thursday, In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Muñiz, the Supreme Court of Florida held that a workplace assault...

FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims
Jul 8, 2026

KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths

Supervisors Who Allegedly Blocked Exits Fell Outside the Workers’ Comp Act’s Exclusive Remedy The Kentucky Court of Appeals has revived tort claims brought by survivors of the December 2021 tornado...

KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths

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Feb 24, 2015

Injured Workers Challenge Constitutionality of Oklahoma Opt Out Law

Two Injured Workers File Petition With Oklahoma Supreme Court Two Oklahoma workers who were denied benefits under Injury Benefit Plans set up by their respective employers after the effective date...

Injured Workers Challenge Constitutionality of Oklahoma Opt Out Law Injured Workers Challenge Constitutionality of Oklahoma Opt Out Law
Feb 13, 2015

Workers’ Comp “Opt-Out” Bill Introduced in Tennessee Legislature

Senate Bill 721 On Wednesday, state senator Mark Green (Republican from Clarksville), introduced Senate Bill 721 to the Tennessee legislature. If enacted, many Tennessee employers would be allowed to opt-out...

Workers’ Comp “Opt-Out” Bill Introduced in Tennessee Legislature Workers’ Comp “Opt-Out” Bill Introduced in Tennessee Legislature
Feb 3, 2015

Could Employee Classification Issues Uberwhelm the Uber Business Model?

Arguments were held last week in connection with motions pending in a federal lawsuit [O’Connor v. Uber, 13–3826, U.S. District Court, N.D. Cal.- San Francisco] that could put an ugly...

Could Employee Classification Issues Uberwhelm the Uber Business Model? Could Employee Classification Issues Uberwhelm the Uber Business Model?
Jan 26, 2015

Maine Home Treadmill Fatality Found Compensable

Illustrating the point that for telecommuting employees, who are often tethered to their employers by ubiquitous cell phones and tablets, the line between the employment world and private life is...

Maine Home Treadmill Fatality Found Compensable Maine Home Treadmill Fatality Found Compensable
Jan 21, 2015

New Mexico: Health Care Provider’s “Certification” of Medical Marijuana is Functional Equivalent of Prescription for Injured Worker

An authorized treating health care provider’s “certification” authorizing the use of medical marijuana under New Mexico’s Compassionate Use Act [N.M. Stat. Ann. § 26–2B–1 et seq.] is the functional equivalent...

New Mexico: Health Care Provider’s “Certification” of Medical Marijuana is Functional Equivalent of Prescription for Injured Worker New Mexico: Health Care Provider’s “Certification” of Medical Marijuana is Functional Equivalent of Prescription for Injured Worker
Jan 19, 2015

South Carolina Supreme Court Adopts What Amounts to Positional Risk Standard in Slip and Fall Cases

The Supreme Court of South Carolina, reversing the state court of appeals, recently held that an office worker who sustained injuries when she fell as she walked down an unobstructed,...

South Carolina Supreme Court Adopts What Amounts to Positional Risk Standard in Slip and Fall Cases South Carolina Supreme Court Adopts What Amounts to Positional Risk Standard in Slip and Fall Cases
Jan 13, 2015

Kentucky High Court Splits in Case Involving Personal Comfort Doctrine

In a split decision dealing with the application of the personal comfort doctrine described in Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 21.01, et seq., a majority of the Supreme Court of...

Kentucky High Court Splits in Case Involving Personal Comfort Doctrine Kentucky High Court Splits in Case Involving Personal Comfort Doctrine
Jan 12, 2015

For Now, Exclusivity Does Not Bar Workers’ Tort Cases Against BP Products Following 2011 Chemical Release at Refinery

A Federal District Court in Texas has refused to grant a motion for summary judgment filed by Defendant BP Products North America, Inc. (“BP Products”) in a civil action arising...

For Now, Exclusivity Does Not Bar Workers’ Tort Cases Against BP Products Following 2011 Chemical Release at Refinery For Now, Exclusivity Does Not Bar Workers’ Tort Cases Against BP Products Following 2011 Chemical Release at Refinery
Jan 5, 2015

NY Employer’s Surveillance of Injured Worker Fails to Establish Fraud

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that an employer’s surveillance videos and testimony of its private investigator, which primarily showed a workers’...

NY Employer’s Surveillance of Injured Worker Fails to Establish Fraud

NY Employer’s Surveillance of Injured Worker Fails to Establish Fraud

Dec 30, 2014

New York Court Finds Worker’s Refusal of Light-Work Justified

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that a claimant had not voluntarily withdrawn from the labor market by refusing a light duty...

New York Court Finds Worker’s Refusal of Light-Work Justified New York Court Finds Worker’s Refusal of Light-Work Justified
Dec 29, 2014

Ohio Worker May Receive TTD Benefits In Spite of Positive Drug Test After Injury

Reiterating the Ohio rule that that a pre-injury infraction undetected until after the injury is not grounds for concluding that a claimant voluntarily abandoned his employment so as to preclude...

Ohio Worker May Receive TTD Benefits In Spite of Positive Drug Test After Injury Ohio Worker May Receive TTD Benefits In Spite of Positive Drug Test After Injury
Dec 24, 2014

8th Circuit: Insurer’s Refusal to Pay for Injured Undocumented Worker’s Groceries and Cable TV Not Bad-Faith Denial of Insurance Benefits

In an action alleging bad-faith denial of insurance benefits filed by an undocumented worker who sustained severe injuries in a work-related accident, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, construing Iowa...

8th Circuit: Insurer’s Refusal to Pay for Injured Undocumented Worker’s Groceries and Cable TV Not Bad-Faith Denial of Insurance Benefits 8th Circuit: Insurer’s Refusal to Pay for Injured Undocumented Worker’s Groceries and Cable TV Not Bad-Faith Denial of Insurance Benefits

New Comments

  • ramivou: They hid behind a flawed "reading" of this statute for a decade. I am glad the SC finally put an end to the misconception that it was a "first six months only" filing requirement, rather than an ongoing responsibility.
  • 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