Every dollar spent on workers’ compensation falls into one of two broad categories: benefits paid to injured workers—medical care and wage replacement—and the costs of delivering those benefits. The second...
New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering BenefitsIn Motors v. Bayly (Red House Motors d/b/a Bayly’s Garage), 2026 Del. LEXIS 92 (Mar. 2, 2026), the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Superior Court decision that the high court...
Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor CoverageIn Publix Super Markets, Inc. v. Department of Financial Services, 2026 Fla. App. LEXIS 1469 (Fla. 1st DCA Feb. 25, 2026), the First District Court of Appeal recently held that...
Florida Court Invalidates Rules Expanding “Absolute Choice” Pharmacy Provision Florida Court Invalidates Rules Expanding “Absolute Choice” Pharmacy ProvisionThe Florida First District Court of Appeal has reversed an award of 24-hour attendant care benefits where the only “prescription” supporting the award appeared in an Independent Medical Examiner’s report...
Florida Court: IME Report Is Not a “Prescription” for Attendant Care Florida Court: IME Report Is Not a “Prescription” for Attendant CareBackground On December 28, 1979, Alcide Guidry, a 53-year-old industrial painter, arrived at work as usual at 7:30 a.m. for Sline Industrial Painters. Assigned with a colleague to paint large...
Throwback Thursday: Guidry v. Sline Industrial Painters, Inc. (1982) Throwback Thursday: Guidry v. Sline Industrial Painters, Inc. (1982)In an important decision for maritime law and workers’ rights, the California Supreme Court has ruled that workers excluded from the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) may...
California Supreme Court Preserves Maritime Claims for Workers Excluded from LHWCA California Supreme Court Preserves Maritime Claims for Workers Excluded from LHWCAIn a recent Pennsylvania workers’ compensation case, the state’s Commonwealth Court ruled that pandemic-related “excused time” payments, such as Philadelphia’s “E-Time” program, do not constitute “payments in lieu of compensation”...
PA Court Rules on COVID-19 “E-Time” Payments in Workers’ Comp Case PA Court Rules on COVID-19 “E-Time” Payments in Workers’ Comp CaseBackground In 1916, the New York Court of Appeals issued a groundbreaking decision that would fundamentally shape how workers’ compensation law treats rescue attempts. The case, Waters v. William J....
Throwback Thursday: Waters v. William J. Taylor Co. (1916) – The Humanitarian Rescue Doctrine Throwback Thursday: Waters v. William J. Taylor Co. (1916) – The Humanitarian Rescue DoctrineYesterday, in Girardin v. An Fort Myers Imps., LLC (2025 Fla. App. LEXIS 1292, Feb. 19, 2025), Florida’s First District Court of Appeal struck down an award for attendant care...
Florida Court Nixes Worker’s Comp Award for Spouse’s Household Chores Florida Court Nixes Worker’s Comp Award for Spouse’s Household ChoresBackground In 1928, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a decision that would help establish important principles about when off-premises lunch injuries fall within the scope of workers’ compensation coverage. The...
Throwback Thursday: Krause v. Swartwood (1928) – When Lunch is Part of the Job Throwback Thursday: Krause v. Swartwood (1928) – When Lunch is Part of the JobIn a decision that reinforces the potential consequences of misrepresenting one’s physical condition, a New York appellate court has upheld the permanent disqualification from wage replacement benefits of a workers’...
NY Court Upholds Permanent Benefits Ban Based on Surveillance Evidence NY Court Upholds Permanent Benefits Ban Based on Surveillance EvidenceIn an unpublished decision, a Kansas appellate court has struck down an employer’s attempt to deny workers’ compensation benefits to an employee who refused a drug test 18 days after...
Drug Test Delay Dooms Kansas Employer’s Attempt to Deny Benefits Drug Test Delay Dooms Kansas Employer’s Attempt to Deny BenefitsIn Matter of Tudor v. Whitehall Cent. Sch. Dist., 2025 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 827 (3d Dept., Feb. 13, 2025), the New York Appellate Division, Third Department, affirmed the state...
Cautious Medical Testimony Dooms NY Teacher’s Stroke Claim Cautious Medical Testimony Dooms NY Teacher’s Stroke ClaimBackground On May 21, 1946, Kelly fell and injured his left knee in an accident which arose out of and in the course of his employment with the employer. He...
Throwback Thursday: Kelly v. Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. (1949) Throwback Thursday: Kelly v. Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. (1949)A Florida appellate court has ruled that a workers’ compensation carrier’s statutory lien rights extend to all benefits paid through the date of equitable distribution, not merely those paid through...
Florida Workers’ Comp Lien Includes Post-Settlement Benefits Florida Workers’ Comp Lien Includes Post-Settlement BenefitsIn Russell v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2025 S.C. LEXIS 13 (Jan. 29, 2025), the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed a Workers’ Compensation Commission ruling that denied an injured worker additional...
SC Supreme Court Rebukes Comp Comm’n in Change of Condition Dispute SC Supreme Court Rebukes Comp Comm’n in Change of Condition Dispute
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