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Jun 2, 2026

Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity

Court Applies Massachusetts Law to Maine Injury, Rejects Immunity Defense in Multi-State Staffing Arrangement A New Hampshire contractor that likely would have enjoyed workers’ compensation immunity under Maine law lost...

Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity
Jun 1, 2026

NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions

New York’s Court of Appeals recently affirmed an Appellate Division order blocking defendants in a personal injury action from using a Workers’ Compensation Board causation determination as collateral estoppel, holding...

NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions
May 27, 2026

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment

In a case involving a Nebraska truck driver-farm laborer whose treatment for metastatic cancer was allegedly postponed by complications associated with a compensable hip injury and its resulting treatment, the...

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment
May 26, 2026

NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke

A North Carolina district manager who suffered a stroke while preparing for the opening of a restaurant location—and who allegedly waited hours before coworkers summoned emergency assistance—may not pursue negligence...

NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke

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Dec 4, 2014

Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies Independent Contractor-Employee Distinction

In a 6–1 decision, the Supreme Court of Michigan has reversed a 2013 decision of a special panel of the state’s Court of Appeals, finding that a landscape worker was...

Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies Independent Contractor-Employee Distinction Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies Independent Contractor-Employee Distinction
Nov 28, 2014

NY: Co-employee Immunity Bars Exercise Rider’s Suit For Crushed Foot From Falling Anvil

A civil action filed by one equestrian exercise rider against another for injuries sustained when an anvil owned by the defendant fell from defendant’s vehicle and crushed plaintiff’s foot is...

NY: Co-employee Immunity Bars Exercise Rider’s Suit For Crushed Foot From Falling Anvil NY: Co-employee Immunity Bars Exercise Rider’s Suit For Crushed Foot From Falling Anvil
Nov 19, 2014

Illinois Widow Gets Death Benefits after Husband Succumbs to Neisseria Meningitides Contracted on Brazilian Business Trip

In a decision that may provide some indication as to how the court might decide a claim involving Ebola exposure, an Illinois appellate court has affirmed a finding by the...

Illinois Widow Gets Death Benefits after Husband Succumbs to Neisseria Meningitides Contracted on Brazilian Business Trip Illinois Widow Gets Death Benefits after Husband Succumbs to Neisseria Meningitides Contracted on Brazilian Business Trip
Nov 18, 2014

Delaware Employer’s Inability to Rehire Undocumented Worker Following Injury is Its Worry, Not the Worker’s

Observing that the employee must must be taken as he or she was hired, that in determining an employee’s “earning power” following an injury, Delaware courts are authorized to consider...

Delaware Employer’s Inability to Rehire Undocumented Worker Following Injury is Its Worry, Not the Worker’s Delaware Employer’s Inability to Rehire Undocumented Worker Following Injury is Its Worry, Not the Worker’s
Nov 11, 2014

“Dog Bites Man”: Pennsylvania Court Affirms Award for Worker Bitten By Co-Worker’s Canine

Yesterday, a Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed an order by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board awarding workers’ compensation benefits to a worker who sustained facial lacerations and permanent scarring when...

“Dog Bites Man”: Pennsylvania Court Affirms Award for Worker Bitten By Co-Worker’s Canine “Dog Bites Man”: Pennsylvania Court Affirms Award for Worker Bitten By Co-Worker’s Canine
Nov 6, 2014

Pennsylvania Ex-Husband’s LHWCA Benefits Subject to Attachment by Former Spouse for Unpaid Alimony

Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act disability benefits are subject to attachment by a worker’s former spouse, held a Pennsylvania court yesterday in Uveges v. Uveges, 2014 PA Super 251, 2014...

Pennsylvania Ex-Husband’s LHWCA Benefits Subject to Attachment by Former Spouse for Unpaid Alimony Pennsylvania Ex-Husband’s LHWCA Benefits Subject to Attachment by Former Spouse for Unpaid Alimony
Nov 4, 2014

Iowa: Surveillance Videos of Injured Workers Not Protected by Work Product Privilege

A divided Court of Appeals of Iowa, in Iowa Insurance Institute v. Core Group of the Iowa Association for Justice, 2014 Iowa App. LEXIS 1067 (Oct. 29, 2014), has held...

Iowa: Surveillance Videos of Injured Workers Not Protected by Work Product Privilege Iowa: Surveillance Videos of Injured Workers Not Protected by Work Product Privilege
Oct 25, 2014

Arkansas: The Second You’re Off the Clock, You’re On Your Own

Construing 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 Own
Oct 17, 2014

Commentary: Ebola Has Everybody Spooked; They’re Even Calling Me With Questions

Ebola 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 Questions
Oct 10, 2014

Commentary: For Whom Are You Working? Ohio Court Creates Twilight Zone For Temporary Workers

Disruption 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 Workers
Sep 29, 2014

Wyoming Court Says Undocumented Worker Might Be Able to Employ Ingenious Argument to Avoid Exclusive Remedy Defense

The 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 Defense
Sep 24, 2014

Oregon Home Health Care Worker’s Employment Is Broader Than Approved Task List

Like 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 List

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