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 ImmunityNew 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 DecisionsIn 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 TreatmentA 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 StrokeThe Supreme Court of Ohio, affirming a decision of a lower level appellate court, recently held that while a claimant could not receive temporary total disability (TTD) benefits for any...
Ohio: Unpaid Work for Wife’s Business Warranted Forfeiture of Benefits, But Not Finding of Fraudulent Activity Ohio: Unpaid Work for Wife’s Business Warranted Forfeiture of Benefits, But Not Finding of Fraudulent ActivityIn a 4–3 decision, the Supreme Court of Missouri recently reversed the decision of a state trial court that earlier had held a workers’ compensation award against a statutory employer...
Missouri: Survivors May Proceed in Tort Against Uninsured Employer After Recovering Workers’ Compensation Benefits From Statutory Employer–No Election of Remedies Problem Missouri: Survivors May Proceed in Tort Against Uninsured Employer After Recovering Workers’ Compensation Benefits From Statutory Employer–No Election of Remedies ProblemIn the vast majority of states, non-dependent relatives of employees who suffer fatal work-related injuries are caught in a Catch-22. Since most state acts limit workers’ compensation death benefits to...
Virginia: Non-Dependent Relative of Deceased Worker Caught in Catch-22 Virginia: Non-Dependent Relative of Deceased Worker Caught in Catch-22All but four states (Arkansas, Missouri, Maryland, Vermont, plus the Virgin Islands) extend immunity from tort liability not only to the employer, but co-employees, at least as long as the...
Maryland: Supervisor May Be Sued By Co-Employee re: Parking Lot Vehicular Accident Maryland: Supervisor May Be Sued By Co-Employee re: Parking Lot Vehicular AccidentAn important exception to the exclusive remedy rule relates to intentional injury inflicted by the employer on an employee. Several legal theories have been advanced to support the exception. The...
US: 2010 Statutory Amendment Spelled “Certain” Demise of Oklahoma’s “Substantially Certain” Rule in Intentional Injury Actions Against Employers US: 2010 Statutory Amendment Spelled “Certain” Demise of Oklahoma’s “Substantially Certain” Rule in Intentional Injury Actions Against EmployersThe Supreme Court of Missouri, in a split decision, construing the state’s version of the “increased-risk” doctrine, on Tuesday (May 29) reversed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to an...
Missouri: Divided Supreme Court Reverses Award of Benefits to Employee Injured Making Coffee for Herself and Others in the Office Kitchen Missouri: Divided Supreme Court Reverses Award of Benefits to Employee Injured Making Coffee for Herself and Others in the Office KitchenAs noted by Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 84.02 et seq., some of the most complex disability questions arise when the claimant returns to some kind of employment after the...
Virginia: Claimant Awarded Post-Termination PD Benefits; Her Poor Performance Was In Part Tied to Her Compensable Injuries Virginia: Claimant Awarded Post-Termination PD Benefits; Her Poor Performance Was In Part Tied to Her Compensable InjuriesA stable groom for a horse farm, who sustained multiple injuries in an automobile accident that occurred while he rode with a friend back to Kentucky from Saratoga, New York,...
Kentucky: Stable Groom, Injured In Auto Accident Returning to Kentucky From New York, Was “Traveling Employee” In Spite of Indefinite Nature of Travel Details Kentucky: Stable Groom, Injured In Auto Accident Returning to Kentucky From New York, Was “Traveling Employee” In Spite of Indefinite Nature of Travel DetailsAn integral and important part of the workers’ compensation “bargain” is the notion that once a workers’ compensation act has become applicable, either through compulsion or election, it affords the...
Illinois: Safety Inspectors Are Immune From Tort Liability For Negligent Inspection Illinois: Safety Inspectors Are Immune From Tort Liability For Negligent InspectionIt is axiomatic in workers’ compensation law that a subsequent injury, whether an aggravation of the original injury or a new and distinct injury, is compensable if it is the...
Texas Widow Prevails In Death Claim Case By Showing Husband’s Drug Overdose Could Have Been Caused By Side Effects of Prescription Pain Medication Texas Widow Prevails In Death Claim Case By Showing Husband’s Drug Overdose Could Have Been Caused By Side Effects of Prescription Pain MedicationBy Thomas A. Robinson Late last Wednesday evening (April 25th), supporters of a controversial bill that would have allowed some Oklahoma employers to “opt out” of the state’s traditional workers’...
Oklahoma Opt Out Legislation Fails: A Post Mortem Oklahoma Opt Out Legislation Fails: A Post MortemLate Wednesday evening, supporters of a controversial bill that would allow some Oklahoma employers to “opt out” of the state’s traditional workers’ compensation system [see Oklahoma House Bill 2155] fell...
Oklahoma’s Controversial “Opt Out” Legislation Fails (At Least Temporarily) Oklahoma’s Controversial “Opt Out” Legislation Fails (At Least Temporarily)
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