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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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Sep 23, 2014

Ohio Court Clarifies Elements of Retaliatory Discharge Action Against Former Employer

In 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 Employer
Sep 22, 2014

Divided Washington Court Again Refuses to Adopt Substantially Certain Test

A 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 Test
Sep 12, 2014

Oregon Court Affirms Denial of Claim Due to Claimant’s Failure to Cooperate

On 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 Cooperate
Sep 9, 2014

Ohio Jury Uses MapQuest Data to Help Establish Significance of Claimant’s Deviation from Employment

An 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 Employment
Sep 2, 2014

California Court Says Plaintiff’s IIED Claim is Barred by Exclusivity

A 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 Exclusivity
Aug 27, 2014

Divided SC Supreme Court Says Injuries Sustained Playing Kickball Were Compensable

In 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 Compensable
Aug 25, 2014

Kentucky Cap on Claimant Attorney’s Fees Applies In Spite of Multiple Proceedings to Recover Benefits

The $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
Aug 20, 2014

Informal Arrangement Regarding Boarding of Horses Did not Create Employer-Employee Relationship

An oral agreement whereby one party (Cornett) was allowed to board horses on property owned by another (Schumacher) and pay the latter a portion of the boarding fees received as...

Informal Arrangement Regarding Boarding of Horses Did not Create Employer-Employee Relationship Informal Arrangement Regarding Boarding of Horses Did not Create Employer-Employee Relationship
Aug 19, 2014

Annual Service Bonus is Part of Iowa Employee’s Average Weekly Wage Computation

Where the only conditions precedent to receiving an annual bonus was simply being an “active employee on November 30th of the year the bonus was paid and the condition precedent...

Annual Service Bonus is Part of Iowa Employee’s Average Weekly Wage Computation Annual Service Bonus is Part of Iowa Employee’s Average Weekly Wage Computation
Aug 15, 2014

Louisiana Claimant Gets Hit With Forfeiture of Benefits and Stiff Penalties for Misrepresentations

A Louisiana appellate court has affirmed an Order of the state’s Office of Workers’ Compensation that heavily sanctioned a workers’ compensation claimant for fraud in violation of La. R. S....

Louisiana Claimant Gets Hit With Forfeiture of Benefits and Stiff Penalties for Misrepresentations Louisiana Claimant Gets Hit With Forfeiture of Benefits and Stiff Penalties for Misrepresentations
Aug 8, 2014

Nebraska High Court Clarifies “Manifestation” Date in Repetitive Trauma Cases

The Supreme Court of Nebraska recently held that for purposes of assigning liability among several employers for a dental hygienist’s repetitive trauma injury, the injury manifested itself on the day...

Nebraska High Court Clarifies “Manifestation” Date in Repetitive Trauma Cases Nebraska High Court Clarifies “Manifestation” Date in Repetitive Trauma Cases
Aug 5, 2014

Divided California Supreme Court Says In-Home Caregivers May Not Sue Alzheimer’s Patients For Injuries

Acknowledging that agitation and physical aggression are common late-stage symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, that injuries to caregivers are not unusual, and that California and other jurisdictions had previously established the...

Divided California Supreme Court Says In-Home Caregivers May Not Sue Alzheimer’s Patients For Injuries Divided California Supreme Court Says In-Home Caregivers May Not Sue Alzheimer’s Patients For Injuries

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