Newest Articles

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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Aug 19, 2025

Ohio Court Rejects VSSR Claim for Arborist’ Fatal Accident

An Ohio appellate court has denied additional workers’ compensation benefits for the fatal workplace accident of a city arborist, ruling that construction safety regulations did not apply to tree removal...

Ohio Court Rejects VSSR Claim for Arborist’ Fatal Accident Ohio Court Rejects VSSR Claim for Arborist’ Fatal Accident
Aug 18, 2025

Maine High Court Affirms AWW Calculation Despite Award Exceeding Actual Earnings

The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine has upheld an average weekly wage calculation that produces an annual workers’ compensation award of approximately $60,000 for a truck driver who had earned...

Maine High Court Affirms AWW Calculation Despite Award Exceeding Actual Earnings Maine High Court Affirms AWW Calculation Despite Award Exceeding Actual Earnings
Aug 14, 2025

PA Court Clarifies Notice Requirements: Context and Communications Matter More Than Perfect Timing

In Kimberly-Clark Mill v. Moss, 2025 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 144 (Aug. 12, 2025), the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania provided important guidance on workers’ compensation notice requirements within the Keystone State,...

PA Court Clarifies Notice Requirements: Context and Communications Matter More Than Perfect Timing PA Court Clarifies Notice Requirements: Context and Communications Matter More Than Perfect Timing
Aug 12, 2025

Issue Commentary: What Forum Decides Exclusivity?

Texas Court Applies New Jurisdictional Framework in Workplace Violence Case In the long-running national debate over whether courts or workers’ compensation agencies should decide coverage disputes, Texas has now drawn...

Issue Commentary: What Forum Decides Exclusivity? Issue Commentary: What Forum Decides Exclusivity?
Aug 7, 2025

Washington Court Rejects Dual Persona Exception to Co-Employee Immunity for Property-Owning Supervisors

The Washington Court of Appeals has rejected a novel attempt to sidestep co-employee immunity under the state’s Industrial Insurance Act, holding that property ownership alone does not establish the “separate...

Washington Court Rejects Dual Persona Exception to Co-Employee Immunity for Property-Owning Supervisors Washington Court Rejects Dual Persona Exception to Co-Employee Immunity for Property-Owning Supervisors
Aug 6, 2025

Louisiana Court Allows “Substantially Certain” Workers’ Compensation Bypass in Lawnmower Injury Case

In a decision that demonstrates Louisiana’s more liberal approach to the “substantially certain” exception to workers’ compensation exclusivity, the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal reversed a trial court’s dismissal...

Louisiana Court Allows “Substantially Certain” Workers’ Compensation Bypass in Lawnmower Injury Case Louisiana Court Allows “Substantially Certain” Workers’ Compensation Bypass in Lawnmower Injury Case
Aug 4, 2025

Tennessee Court Finds Injuries from Medical Travel Compensable

In Wade v. State, 2025 Tenn. LEXIS 283 (Tenn. Workers’ Comp. Panel July 30, 2025), a Tennessee workers’ compensation appeals panel reversed the Claims Commission’s denial of medical benefits, applying...

Tennessee Court Finds Injuries from Medical Travel Compensable Tennessee Court Finds Injuries from Medical Travel Compensable
Jul 28, 2025

CT Employer’s Videotape Sinks Employee’s Emotional Distress Tort Claim

An employee’s civil action filed against her employer alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress following a workplace dog bite is barred by the exclusive remedy provision of the Connecticut Workers’...

CT Employer’s Videotape Sinks Employee’s Emotional Distress Tort Claim CT Employer’s Videotape Sinks Employee’s Emotional Distress Tort Claim
Jul 22, 2025

Michigan Court Rejects Intentional Tort Claim in Fatal Workplace Shooting

In Brown v. Burlington Coat Factory of Texas, Inc., 2025 Mich. App. LEXIS 5524 (Mich. Ct. App. July 11, 2025), the Michigan Court of Appeals reaffirmed the narrow scope of...

Michigan Court Rejects Intentional Tort Claim in Fatal Workplace Shooting Michigan Court Rejects Intentional Tort Claim in Fatal Workplace Shooting
Jul 21, 2025

Minnesota Supreme Court Clarifies PTSD Coverage for First Responders

The Minnesota Supreme Court, in a divided decision, has issued a significant decision that potentially expands workers’ compensation coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) claims, particularly those brought by first...

Minnesota Supreme Court Clarifies PTSD Coverage for First Responders Minnesota Supreme Court Clarifies PTSD Coverage for First Responders
Jul 17, 2025

CT ALJ’s Dismissal of Survivor’s Claim Reinstated—Board Improperly Reweighed Suicide Causation Evidence

In Buchanan v. Town of East Hartford, 2025 Conn. App. LEXIS 208 (July 15, 2025), the Connecticut Appellate Court, reversing a decision of the state’s Compensation Review Board, reinstated an...

CT ALJ’s Dismissal of Survivor’s Claim Reinstated—Board Improperly Reweighed Suicide Causation Evidence CT ALJ’s Dismissal of Survivor’s Claim Reinstated—Board Improperly Reweighed Suicide Causation Evidence
Jul 16, 2025

Nebraska Court Affirms Denial of Benefits for Post-Accident Knee Surgery

In Hernandez v. Associated Wholesale Grocers, 2025 Neb. App. LEXIS 374 (Neb. Ct. App. July 1, 2025) (not designated for permanent publication). the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed the Workers’...

Nebraska Court Affirms Denial of Benefits for Post-Accident Knee Surgery Nebraska Court Affirms Denial of Benefits for Post-Accident Knee Surgery

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