Newest Articles

Aug 20, 2026

Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another Day

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 Day
Aug 20, 2026

Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another Day

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 Day
Aug 19, 2026

VA: One Basket, Two Injuries—and Only One Compensable Accident

In *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 Accident
Aug 17, 2026

UT Supreme Court Affirms PTD Award—and Rejects Employer’s Claim to Employee’s Debt-Collection Settlement

In 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 Settlement

All Articles

ARCHIVE
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
Feb 14, 2014

NY Court: No Reopening Allowed in Established Claim re: Murdered Employee

Indicating that in New York there were two requisites for reopening a claim based on newly acquired evidence: (a) the application to reopen “must be made within a reasonable time...

NY Court: No Reopening Allowed in Established Claim re: Murdered Employee NY Court: No Reopening Allowed in Established Claim re: Murdered Employee
Feb 13, 2014

Idaho Shoe Lace Causes Compensable Herniated Disc

In a decision showing just how strongly the state’s workers’ compensation system separates the “arising out of” the employment component of the compensation formula from the “course of employment” component,...

Idaho Shoe Lace Causes Compensable Herniated Disc Idaho Shoe Lace Causes Compensable Herniated Disc
Feb 11, 2014

Texas Exclusive Remedy Provision Does Not Apply to Health Care Providers

The exclusive remedy provision of Tex. Lab. Code Ann. § 408.001(a) does not apply to health care providers, held a Texas appellate court recently, in Hand & Wrist Center of...

Texas Exclusive Remedy Provision Does Not Apply to Health Care Providers Texas Exclusive Remedy Provision Does Not Apply to Health Care Providers
Jan 20, 2014

Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp Premiums

A Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance ruling–later upheld by a state trial court–that a company was not liable for additional workers’ compensation insurance premiums related to the earnings of...

Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp Premiums Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp Premiums
Jan 17, 2014

US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is Difficult

Construing La. Rev. Stat. § 23:1032, which generally provides that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy of an employee injured within the course and scope of the employment unless the...

US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is Difficult US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is Difficult
Dec 28, 2013

South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor

Reversing a decision by the state’s court of appeals, the Supreme Court of South Carolina recently held that direct evidence supported the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s original determination that a certified...

South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor
Dec 24, 2013

Federal Judge in Phoenix Says RICO Case May Move Forward

A federal district court judge ruled yesterday that nine fire department employees may maintain a civil action they had filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations [RICO] Act against...

Federal Judge in Phoenix Says RICO Case May Move Forward Federal Judge in Phoenix Says RICO Case May Move Forward
Dec 23, 2013

Federal Court (Wisconsin) Allows IIED Claim to Move Forward; Exclusivity Did Not Apply Since Plaintiff Was On Administrative Leave

Construing Wisconsin’s exclusive remedy defense, a federal district court recently refused to dismiss a civil action filed by a former principal against a school district alleging, among other things, intentional...

Federal Court (Wisconsin) Allows IIED Claim to Move Forward; Exclusivity Did Not Apply Since Plaintiff Was On Administrative Leave Federal Court (Wisconsin) Allows IIED Claim to Move Forward; Exclusivity Did Not Apply Since Plaintiff Was On Administrative Leave
Dec 20, 2013

Illinois: Divided High Court Finds Injured Employee was Not a “Traveling Employee”

Construing the “traveling employee” rule, the Supreme Court of Illinois, in a divided decision, yesterday held that a worker who took a position with an employer located some 200 miles...

Illinois: Divided High Court Finds Injured Employee was Not a “Traveling Employee” Illinois: Divided High Court Finds Injured Employee was Not a “Traveling Employee”
Dec 18, 2013

Board Lacks Subject Matter Jurisdiction Where Former WBNA Player Involved in Only One Game During 34-Game Career

A former basketball player in the Women’s National Basketball Association, who never resided in California, played just one of her 34-game career within the state, and who suffered no specific...

Board Lacks Subject Matter Jurisdiction Where Former WBNA Player Involved in Only One Game During 34-Game Career Board Lacks Subject Matter Jurisdiction Where Former WBNA Player Involved in Only One Game During 34-Game Career
Dec 17, 2013

Oklahoma High Court Rejects Initial Challenge to Opt Out Law

Yesterday (December 16), the Supreme Court of Oklahoma rejected an initial constitutional challenge to the controversial overhaul of the state’s workers’ compensation system via Senate Bill 1062, which allows, among...

Oklahoma High Court Rejects Initial Challenge to Opt Out Law Oklahoma High Court Rejects Initial Challenge to Opt Out Law
Nov 18, 2013

Iowa: Undocumented Workers Are Protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act

The Supreme Court of Iowa recently held in relevant part that undocumented workers are not excluded from the Workers’ Compensation Act’s definition of “employee” and that the contract of employment...

Iowa: Undocumented Workers Are Protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act Iowa: Undocumented Workers Are Protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act

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