Driscoll Agrees with the Larson Standard, Then Affirms Without Needing It The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to a city employee who developed...
Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another Day Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another DayDriscoll Agrees with the Larson Standard, Then Affirms Without Needing It The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to a city employee who developed...
Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another Day Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another DayIn *Sairafianpour v. Loudoun County Public Schools*, 2026 Va. App. LEXIS 430 (Aug. 11, 2026), the Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Commission decision awarding medical benefits...
VA: One Basket, Two Injuries—and Only One Compensable Accident VA: One Basket, Two Injuries—and Only One Compensable AccidentIn Granite School District v. Young, 2026 UT 29, 2026 Utah LEXIS 113 (Aug. 13, 2026), the Utah Supreme Court affirmed an award of permanent total disability benefits to a...
UT Supreme Court Affirms PTD Award—and Rejects Employer’s Claim to Employee’s Debt-Collection Settlement UT Supreme Court Affirms PTD Award—and Rejects Employer’s Claim to Employee’s Debt-Collection SettlementIn a recent case with rather bizarre underlying facts, the Supreme Court of Nebraska affirmed an award of temporary total disability benefits for an employee’s PTSD condition and inpatient treatment...
Nebraska Retail Worker Awarded TTD Benefits and Continued Medical Care to Deal With PTSD and Drug Dependency Following Work-Related Shooting Nebraska Retail Worker Awarded TTD Benefits and Continued Medical Care to Deal With PTSD and Drug Dependency Following Work-Related ShootingAnswering a question certified to it by the U.S. Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit), the Court of Appeals of New York, in Isabella v. Koubek, 2014 N.Y. LEXIS 569 (Mar....
New York: Vehicle Owner Shielded from Contribution By Exclusive Remedy Defense New York: Vehicle Owner Shielded from Contribution By Exclusive Remedy DefenseCharacterizing the language of a workers’ compensation settlement agreement that included a provision for a Medicare set-aside annuity (MSA) as “sloppy” and “imprecise” and quoting novelist Vladimir Nabokov’s advice to...
What A Difference a Word Makes: Illinois Court Remands Case Because Settlement Agreement Ambiguous What A Difference a Word Makes: Illinois Court Remands Case Because Settlement Agreement AmbiguousIt is one thing to modify an injured employee’s vehicle so as to accommodate his wheelchair or scooter. It is quite another to provide the employee with necessary transportation assistance...
Virginia Court Requires Insurer to Provide Transportation to Doctor’s Office In Spite of Fact That It Already Paid to Modify Vehicle Virginia Court Requires Insurer to Provide Transportation to Doctor’s Office In Spite of Fact That It Already Paid to Modify VehicleWhen is the opinion of a board-certified (occupational medicine) physician, with years of experience and special training in the utilization of the AMA Guides, and who has performed numerous Impairment...
PA Court Refuses to Consider Independent, Board-Certified MD’s Opinion Because of Her Practice “Mix” PA Court Refuses to Consider Independent, Board-Certified MD’s Opinion Because of Her Practice “Mix”Reiterating the Minnesota rule that so-called “mental-mental” injuries–mental injuries associated with mental stimulus, as opposed to physical stimulus–are not compensable and that it is for the state’s legislature, and not...
Minnesota High Court Says PTSD is No “Brain Injury” Minnesota High Court Says PTSD is No “Brain Injury”Within the workers’ compensation arena, it is axiomatic that the medical consequences and sequelae that flow from the primary injury are themselves compensable. [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 10.01]....
Benign Neglect: Can Failure to Follow Doctor’s Advice Be Fatal to Injured Worker’s Claim? Benign Neglect: Can Failure to Follow Doctor’s Advice Be Fatal to Injured Worker’s Claim?Each year I read–or at least scan–more than 1,500 workers’ compensation cases that make the appellate reporter system around the nation. As large as that number sounds, it’s really fewer...
Compromise and Settlement: May An Employer Include a Penalty Clause to Ward Off Further Vexatious Claims? Compromise and Settlement: May An Employer Include a Penalty Clause to Ward Off Further Vexatious Claims?The Supreme Court of Ohio, reversing an earlier decision by an intermediate appellate court, recently affirmed the state Industrial Commission’s denial of a loss of vision and hearing claim under...
Ohio: Comatose Injured Worker’s Additional Claim for Loss of Vision and Hearing Fails Ohio: Comatose Injured Worker’s Additional Claim for Loss of Vision and Hearing FailsLast week, I was very pleased to be a part of an Orlando, Florida risk management conference sponsored by Artex Risk Solutions. Along with two good friends and colleagues, Rebecca...
Bariatric Surgery: Is it a Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefit? Bariatric Surgery: Is it a Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefit?In Potier v. Acadian Ambulance Serv., Inc., 2014 La. App. LEXIS 347 (February 12, 2014), a Louisiana appellate court recently affirmed a decision by a state workers’ compensation judge that...
Louisiana: Mileage Payment Does Not Bring EMT’s Travel Within the Employment; Going and Coming Rule Bars Claim Louisiana: Mileage Payment Does Not Bring EMT’s Travel Within the Employment; Going and Coming Rule Bars ClaimN.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 11 bars third-party lawsuits for contribution and indemnification against an injured employee’s employer unless either (a) the employee suffered a “grave injury,” limited to death...
NY: Employer Does Not Lose Exclusivity Defense in Contribution/Indemnification Case Because Employee was Undocumented Alien NY: Employer Does Not Lose Exclusivity Defense in Contribution/Indemnification Case Because Employee was Undocumented Alien
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