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Jun 2, 2026

Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity

Court Applies Massachusetts Law to Maine Injury, Rejects Immunity Defense in Multi-State Staffing Arrangement A New Hampshire contractor that likely would have enjoyed workers’ compensation immunity under Maine law lost...

Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity
Jun 1, 2026

NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions

New York’s Court of Appeals recently affirmed an Appellate Division order blocking defendants in a personal injury action from using a Workers’ Compensation Board causation determination as collateral estoppel, holding...

NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions
May 27, 2026

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment

In a case involving a Nebraska truck driver-farm laborer whose treatment for metastatic cancer was allegedly postponed by complications associated with a compensable hip injury and its resulting treatment, the...

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment
May 26, 2026

NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke

A North Carolina district manager who suffered a stroke while preparing for the opening of a restaurant location—and who allegedly waited hours before coworkers summoned emergency assistance—may not pursue negligence...

NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke

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May 20, 2025

Food Delivery Driver’s Tort Claim Against Pizzeria Barred by KY’s Up-the-Ladder Immunity Rule

In a fresh decision that further solidifies Kentucky’s robust up-the-ladder immunity doctrine, a federal district court has dismissed a negligence action filed by a food supplier’s delivery driver against a...

Food Delivery Driver’s Tort Claim Against Pizzeria Barred by KY’s Up-the-Ladder Immunity Rule Food Delivery Driver’s Tort Claim Against Pizzeria Barred by KY’s Up-the-Ladder Immunity Rule
May 19, 2025

MS Court of Appeals Applies Intoxication Presumption in Rooftop Fall Case

In Ladner v. Hinton Homes LLC, 2025 Miss. App. LEXIS 171 (Miss. Ct. App. May 6, 2025), the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to...

MS Court of Appeals Applies Intoxication Presumption in Rooftop Fall Case MS Court of Appeals Applies Intoxication Presumption in Rooftop Fall Case
May 15, 2025

Throwback Thursday: Kowalski v. Shell Oil Co. (Cal. 1979)

Lent Employees and the Boundary of the Employment Relationship In the long and sometimes tangled history of American workers’ compensation law, few issues generate more uncertainty—and more litigation—than lent employment....

Throwback Thursday: Kowalski v. Shell Oil Co. (Cal. 1979) Throwback Thursday: Kowalski v. Shell Oil Co. (Cal. 1979)
May 13, 2025

Pennsylvania Pharmacy May Not be Joined as Party in Comp Case

In a decision released earlier this week, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania drew a firm jurisdictional line in a billing dispute that grew out of a utilization review determination. In...

Pennsylvania Pharmacy May Not be Joined as Party in Comp Case Pennsylvania Pharmacy May Not be Joined as Party in Comp Case
May 12, 2025

Final Means Final—Even When the Law Changes

Favorable Ruling by NY High Court Cannot Support Employer’s Reopening Request In Matter of Coyle v. W & W Steel Erectors LLC, 2025 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2889 (3d Dept....

Final Means Final—Even When the Law Changes Final Means Final—Even When the Law Changes
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)
Apr 30, 2025

Arkansas Court Enforces Strict Dependency Hierarchy Despite Estrangement

In a decision underscoring the rigid statutory structure governing death benefits in workers’ compensation law, the Arkansas Court of Appeals recently affirmed the denial of benefits to the parents of...

Arkansas Court Enforces Strict Dependency Hierarchy Despite Estrangement Arkansas Court Enforces Strict Dependency Hierarchy Despite Estrangement
Apr 29, 2025

Georgia Court Blocks Assigned Negligence Claim Over Lapsed Workers’ Compensation Coverage

In Diaz Arriola v. Coleman, 2025 Ga. App. LEXIS 161 (Apr. 24, 2025), the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of an injured employee’s assigned negligence and breach of...

Georgia Court Blocks Assigned Negligence Claim Over Lapsed Workers’ Compensation Coverage Georgia Court Blocks Assigned Negligence Claim Over Lapsed Workers’ Compensation Coverage
Apr 28, 2025

Hawaii Supreme Court Clarifies Employee Status in Workers’ Compensation Context

The Hawai’i Supreme Court recently held that a tenant who performed maintenance work on rental property, in exchange for reduced rent and occasional payment, was an employee—not a volunteer—and accordingly...

Hawaii Supreme Court Clarifies Employee Status in Workers’ Compensation Context Hawaii Supreme Court Clarifies Employee Status in Workers’ Compensation Context

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