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Jul 16, 2026

Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break

PA Court Finds a 15-Minute Break’s Brevity Outweighs Its Formality The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to a pharmacy technician struck by a...

Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break
Jul 14, 2026

Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field

Idaho Federal Court Finds Surveillance and a Full-Duty Release Defeat Workers' Comp Retaliatory Discharge Claim The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho recently granted summary judgment for a...

Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field
Jul 13, 2026

FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims

Risk-Exposure Evidence Alone Can Establish the Causal Link, Justices Hold Last Thursday, In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Muñiz, the Supreme Court of Florida held that a workplace assault...

FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims
Jul 8, 2026

KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths

Supervisors Who Allegedly Blocked Exits Fell Outside the Workers’ Comp Act’s Exclusive Remedy The Kentucky Court of Appeals has revived tort claims brought by survivors of the December 2021 tornado...

KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths

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Dec 31, 2012

Michigan Becomes 5th State to Pass Social Media Law Affecting Employers’ Right to Private Information

On December 28, Michigan became the 5th state to pass a social media privacy law. House Bill 5523, entitled the Internet Privacy Protection Act, was signed by Gov. Rick Snyder...

Michigan Becomes 5th State to Pass Social Media Law Affecting Employers’ Right to Private Information Michigan Becomes 5th State to Pass Social Media Law Affecting Employers’ Right to Private Information
Dec 31, 2012

Arkansas: Diabetic Ulcer Claim Related to Toe Blister From Employee-Supplied Boots Found Compensable

The Supreme Court of Arkansas, construing the state’s restrictive statute regarding the compensability of repetitive motion injuries, recently reversed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that had denied,...

Arkansas: Diabetic Ulcer Claim Related to Toe Blister From Employee-Supplied Boots Found Compensable Arkansas: Diabetic Ulcer Claim Related to Toe Blister From Employee-Supplied Boots Found Compensable
Dec 20, 2012

Florida: Truck Driver Is Employed During Two-Day “Orientation” and is Entitled To Workers’ Compensation Benefits

A truck driver, who sustained injuries in an automobile accident as he traveled to lunch on the second day of a two-day orientation program was an employee of the trucking...

Florida: Truck Driver Is Employed During Two-Day “Orientation” and is Entitled To Workers’ Compensation Benefits Florida: Truck Driver Is Employed During Two-Day “Orientation” and is Entitled To Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Dec 19, 2012

Kentucky: Teacher’s Tort Action Against Snake-Handling Assistant Principal Barred by Exclusivity

The Court of Appeals of Kentucky recently affirmed a state trial court’s summary judgment in favor of a high school assistant principal and a county board of education in a...

Kentucky: Teacher’s Tort Action Against Snake-Handling Assistant Principal Barred by Exclusivity Kentucky: Teacher’s Tort Action Against Snake-Handling Assistant Principal Barred by Exclusivity
Dec 16, 2012

US: Office Worker’s Tort Action Against Dentist Employer Alleging Sexual Assault Not Barred by Exclusivity

In Painter v. Atwood, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176655 (D. Nev., Dec. 12, 2012), a federal district court from Nevada recently held, in relevant part, that a civil action filed...

US: Office Worker’s Tort Action Against Dentist Employer Alleging Sexual Assault Not Barred by Exclusivity US: Office Worker’s Tort Action Against Dentist Employer Alleging Sexual Assault Not Barred by Exclusivity
Dec 5, 2012

Georgia: Claimant Required to Consent to Ex Parte Communications Between Treating Physician and Employer or Employer’s Representative

Reversing the state’s Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that an employee who filed a claim under the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act, must authorize her treating...

Georgia: Claimant Required to Consent to Ex Parte Communications Between Treating Physician and Employer or Employer’s Representative Georgia: Claimant Required to Consent to Ex Parte Communications Between Treating Physician and Employer or Employer’s Representative
Nov 23, 2012

Arizona: Carrier May Not Suspend Benefits Where Claimant Indicates IME Will Be Recorded

An Arizona appellate court recently held, as a matter of law, that a workers’ compensation claimant who expressed an intention to record an independent medical examination (“IME”), in the absence...

Arizona: Carrier May Not Suspend Benefits Where Claimant Indicates IME Will Be Recorded Arizona: Carrier May Not Suspend Benefits Where Claimant Indicates IME Will Be Recorded
Nov 21, 2012

LHWCA: Ninth Circuit Agrees that Injury Was Caused By Intoxication, Not Concrete and Metal Slab Onto Which Claimant Fell

Under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA”), no compensation is payable “if the injury was occasioned solely by the intoxication of the employee” [see 33 U.S.C. § 903(c)]....

LHWCA: Ninth Circuit Agrees that Injury Was Caused By Intoxication, Not Concrete and Metal Slab Onto Which Claimant Fell LHWCA: Ninth Circuit Agrees that Injury Was Caused By Intoxication, Not Concrete and Metal Slab Onto Which Claimant Fell
Nov 19, 2012

Getting Hurt “On the Job”

As I’ve mentioned in my last several posts, a bit more than a week ago, I enjoyed being part of three panel discussions at the 21st Annual National Workers’ Compensation...

Getting Hurt “On the Job” Getting Hurt “On the Job”
Nov 16, 2012

Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” Case

In what will likely be one of the last cases to be heard under Oklahoma’s court-crafted version of the “substantially certain” rule [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 103.04[2][e]] that...

Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” Case Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” Case
Nov 15, 2012

Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity Defense

Last week, at the 21st Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference® & Expo, in Las Vegas, I was happy to be part of a panel discussion regarding the “Future...

Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity Defense Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity Defense
Nov 14, 2012

New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability Rights

A New York appellate court, in Martinez v. Lefrak City Mngmt., 2012 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7330 (3rd Dept., Nov. 8, 2012), recently affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’...

New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability Rights New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability Rights

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