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May 8, 2025

Throwback Thursday: Bridges v. Elite, Inc. (S.C. 1948)

Imported Quarrels and the Boundaries of Employment Risk In Bridges v. Elite, Inc., 212 S.C. 514, 48 S.E.2d 497 (S.C. 1948), the Supreme Court of South Carolina reversed a decision...

Throwback Thursday: Bridges v. Elite, Inc. (S.C. 1948) Throwback Thursday: Bridges v. Elite, Inc. (S.C. 1948)
May 7, 2025

NY Court Clarifies When Financial Hardship Justifies Total Disability

Construing an exception to New York’s cap on permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits [see N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law, § 35(3)], which allows—in certain situations—reclassification of the claimant’s disability to permanent...

NY Court Clarifies When Financial Hardship Justifies Total Disability NY Court Clarifies When Financial Hardship Justifies Total Disability
May 6, 2025

California Court Reverses WCAB’s Award for Carpool Injuries Sustained During Commute

In a decision reemphasizing the boundaries of compensability for commuting injuries, the California Court of Appeal (Third Appellate District) has annulled a WCAB award awarding workers’ compensation benefits to a...

California Court Reverses WCAB’s Award for Carpool Injuries Sustained During Commute California Court Reverses WCAB’s Award for Carpool Injuries Sustained During Commute
May 1, 2025

Throwback Thursday: Martin v. Industrial Accident Commission (1956)

Refusal of Life-Saving Treatment Within Workers’ Compensation Context In Martin v. Industrial Accident Commission, 147 Cal. App. 2d 137, 304 P.2d 828 (Cal. Ct. App. 1956), the California Court of...

Throwback Thursday: Martin v. Industrial Accident Commission (1956) Throwback Thursday: Martin v. Industrial Accident Commission (1956)

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Dec 29, 2011

Ohio Court Nixes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Claim in Spite of Close Ties With Truck Driver’s Compensable Physical Injuries

A divided Ohio appellate court recently affirmed a trial court’s final judgment that denied a dump truck driver’s claim for post traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) in spite of strong medical...

Ohio Court Nixes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Claim in Spite of Close Ties With Truck Driver’s Compensable Physical Injuries Ohio Court Nixes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Claim in Spite of Close Ties With Truck Driver’s Compensable Physical Injuries
Dec 23, 2011

North Carolina Teacher’s Tort Action Against Principal Who Prankishly Sprayed Her in Face With Fire Extinguisher May Move Forward

In a split decision, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina, in Trivette v. Yount, 2011 N.C. App. LEXIS 2598 (Dec. 20, 2011), has affirmed an order of a state...

North Carolina Teacher’s Tort Action Against Principal Who Prankishly Sprayed Her in Face With Fire Extinguisher May Move Forward North Carolina Teacher’s Tort Action Against Principal Who Prankishly Sprayed Her in Face With Fire Extinguisher May Move Forward
Dec 22, 2011

North Carolina Worker Injured While Retrieving Paycheck Denied Benefits Under “Going and Coming” Rule

A North Carolina appellate court, in Quiroz v. Metropols Statuary, Inc., 2011 N.C. App. LEXIS 2619 (Dec. 20, 2011), recently affirmed a decision by the state’s Industrial Commission that had...

North Carolina Worker Injured While Retrieving Paycheck Denied Benefits Under “Going and Coming” Rule North Carolina Worker Injured While Retrieving Paycheck Denied Benefits Under “Going and Coming” Rule
Dec 21, 2011

Arkansas Court Affirms Commission’s Order Requiring Claimant’s Attorney to Receive Half of Fee Over Nine-Year Period

The Court of Appeals of Arkansas has affirmed a determination by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that ruled that a claimant’s attorney must receive one-half the allowed attorney’s fee in...

Arkansas Court Affirms Commission’s Order Requiring Claimant’s Attorney to Receive Half of Fee Over Nine-Year Period Arkansas Court Affirms Commission’s Order Requiring Claimant’s Attorney to Receive Half of Fee Over Nine-Year Period
Dec 20, 2011

Michigan Governor Poised to Sign Significant Workers’ Compensation Legislation

Indications are that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder will soon sign legislation that makes significant modifications to the state’s workers’ compensation law. H.B. 5002, introduced by state Representative Brad Jacobsen (R-Oxford),...

Michigan Governor Poised to Sign Significant Workers’ Compensation Legislation Michigan Governor Poised to Sign Significant Workers’ Compensation Legislation
Dec 19, 2011

New Hampshire: Mental Injury Following Business Failure Is Not Compensable Injury

As is the case in a majority of states, mental injuries, including major depression caused by work-related stress, may qualify as compensable injuries in New Hampshire [N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann...

New Hampshire: Mental Injury Following Business Failure Is Not Compensable Injury New Hampshire: Mental Injury Following Business Failure Is Not Compensable Injury
Dec 17, 2011

For Second Time in Eight Months, Arkansas Court Sends Case Back to Workers’ Compensation Commission to Determine if Claimant Successfully Rebutted Statutory Presumption Related to Alleged Methamphetamine Use

It’s axiomatic that in virtually all workers’ compensation cases it is the fact-finder–the Industrial Commission, Appeals Board, or the hearing officer–who must pass upon the credibility of witnesses; the appellate...

For Second Time in Eight Months, Arkansas Court Sends Case Back to Workers’ Compensation Commission to Determine if Claimant Successfully Rebutted Statutory Presumption Related to Alleged Methamphetamine Use For Second Time in Eight Months, Arkansas Court Sends Case Back to Workers’ Compensation Commission to Determine if Claimant Successfully Rebutted Statutory Presumption Related to Alleged Methamphetamine Use
Dec 16, 2011

Pennsylvania Worker’s “Dual Persona” Tort Action Against Employer Fails

Since the enactment of the first state workers’ compensation laws one hundred years ago, exclusive remedy provisions within state acts have been a core component of the workers’ compensation “bargain.”...

Pennsylvania Worker’s “Dual Persona” Tort Action Against Employer Fails Pennsylvania Worker’s “Dual Persona” Tort Action Against Employer Fails
Dec 15, 2011

Michigan Plaintiff’s Retaliatory Discharge Action Fails

Finding that a discharged plaintiff had failed to establish that she engaged in a protected activity under the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act (WDCA), MCL 418.101 et seq., failed to demonstrate...

Michigan Plaintiff’s Retaliatory Discharge Action Fails Michigan Plaintiff’s Retaliatory Discharge Action Fails
Dec 14, 2011

Nebraska High Court Nixes Pre-Employment Questionnaire “Misrepresentation” Defense

Holding that its decades-old adoption of the equitable misrepresentation defense in Hilt Truck Lines, Inc. v. Jones, 204 Neb. 115, 281 N.W.2d 399 (1979) was “clearly erroneous,” the Supreme Court...

Nebraska High Court Nixes Pre-Employment Questionnaire “Misrepresentation” Defense Nebraska High Court Nixes Pre-Employment Questionnaire “Misrepresentation” Defense

New Comments

  • 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
  • Thomas A. Robinson: Good point, although the interesting thing about the case--at least to me--is that it discusses the important "injury by accident" issue. That issue, present in at least a plurality of state acts, is largely ignored by Commissions, Boards, and Courts these days. Here, also, the case was so fact-specific that even it had been issued as published, it would be factually distinguishable from many othe...