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Nov 19, 2024

NY Appellate Court Addresses Three Different Types of COVID-19 Claims on Same Day

Nearly four years after COVID-19 first disrupted workplaces across America, courts continue to refine their approach to pandemic-related workers’ compensation claims. Three recent decisions from New York’s Appellate Division, Third...

NY Appellate Court Addresses Three Different Types of COVID-19 Claims on Same Day NY Appellate Court Addresses Three Different Types of COVID-19 Claims on Same Day
Nov 18, 2024

NY: Workers’ Comp Settlement Not Protected from Son of Sam Law Seizure

A New York appellate court held that the Workers’ Compensation Law’s exemption of benefits from creditor claims does not shield settlement funds from the state’s Son of Sam Law [Matter...

NY: Workers’ Comp Settlement Not Protected from Son of Sam Law Seizure NY: Workers’ Comp Settlement Not Protected from Son of Sam Law Seizure
Nov 14, 2024

Florida: Late Change in Doctor’s Causation Opinion Required Hearing Continuance

Florida’s First DCA recently vacated a workers’ compensation order awarding benefits after finding that a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) abused his discretion by not granting a continuance that had...

Florida: Late Change in Doctor’s Causation Opinion Required Hearing Continuance Florida: Late Change in Doctor’s Causation Opinion Required Hearing Continuance
Nov 13, 2024

KY Court Reverses Board: Nurse Failed to Prove COVID-19 Was Work-Related

A Kentucky appellate court has reversed a Workers’ Compensation Board decision that would have allowed a hospital nurse’s COVID-19 claim to proceed under a relaxed causation standard. The Board had...

KY Court Reverses Board: Nurse Failed to Prove COVID-19 Was Work-Related KY Court Reverses Board: Nurse Failed to Prove COVID-19 Was Work-Related

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Oct 21, 2024

Kansas Court Affirms Out-of-State Injury Compensable Under Kansas Comp Act

Last Friday, the Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of the state’s Workers Compensation Board awarding additional benefits under the Kansas Workers’ Compensation Act to a nurse who moved...

Kansas Court Affirms Out-of-State Injury Compensable Under Kansas Comp Act Kansas Court Affirms Out-of-State Injury Compensable Under Kansas Comp Act
Oct 21, 2024

PA Court Says IRE Physicians Should Consider Conditions Beyond Accepted Injury Description

Last Thursday, the Commonwealth Court affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board’s ruling that rejected a physician's impairment rating evaluation (IRE) because the physician had failed to consider conditions beyond the...

PA Court Says IRE Physicians Should Consider Conditions Beyond Accepted Injury Description PA Court Says IRE Physicians Should Consider Conditions Beyond Accepted Injury Description
Oct 15, 2024

Ohio’s Firefighter Cancer Presumption is Difficult to Rebut

In a recent decision that closely mirrors an earlier case, the Ohio Court of Appeals (Tenth Appellate District) has further solidified the strength of statutory presumptions favoring firefighters in cancer-related...

Ohio’s Firefighter Cancer Presumption is Difficult to Rebut Ohio’s Firefighter Cancer Presumption is Difficult to Rebut
Oct 14, 2024

NY Worker’s Claim Found Compensable Despite Severe Intoxication

In a decision that emphasizes the high bar for denying workers’ compensation claims in New York based on employee intoxication, a state appellate court recently affirmed a ruling by the...

NY Worker’s Claim Found Compensable Despite Severe Intoxication NY Worker’s Claim Found Compensable Despite Severe Intoxication
Oct 11, 2024

NY Court Affirms COVID-19 Death Benefits for Paratransit Operator

New York’s De Facto “Prevalence” Approach In a decision that further clarifies New York’s approach to COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims, the Appellate Division, Third Department, has affirmed an award of...

NY Court Affirms COVID-19 Death Benefits for Paratransit Operator NY Court Affirms COVID-19 Death Benefits for Paratransit Operator
Oct 10, 2024

Arkansas Court Rejects Use of “Going and Coming” Rule in Tort Case

Yesterday, in Skala v. Comfort Sys. USA, Inc. Comfort Sys. USA Ark., Inc., 2024 Ark. App. LEXIS 522 (Oct. 9, 2024), the Arkansas Court of Appeals reversed a circuit court’s...

Arkansas Court Rejects Use of “Going and Coming” Rule in Tort Case Arkansas Court Rejects Use of “Going and Coming” Rule in Tort Case
Oct 8, 2024

Georgia: Workplace Shooting Did not Arise Out of Employment

Wrongful Death Action Against Employer May Proceed In a case with a rather bizarre fact pattern involving an all-too-common workplace tragedy—a fatal shooting—the Georgia Court of Appeals has reversed a...

Georgia: Workplace Shooting Did not Arise Out of Employment Georgia: Workplace Shooting Did not Arise Out of Employment
Oct 7, 2024

NY Claimant’s “Personal Experience” Doesn’t Make Him a Medical Expert

A New York appellate court recently rejected a claimant’s attempt to establish himself as a medical expert based on his personal experience with multiple medical procedures and online research [DiPippo...

NY Claimant’s “Personal Experience” Doesn’t Make Him a Medical Expert NY Claimant’s “Personal Experience” Doesn’t Make Him a Medical Expert
Oct 3, 2024

Colorado: Injured Employee May Proceed Against Employer’s UM/UIM Carrier

Answering a question certified to it by the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the Supreme Court of Colorado held that an employee who receives workers’ compensation benefits...

Colorado: Injured Employee May Proceed Against Employer’s UM/UIM Carrier Colorado: Injured Employee May Proceed Against Employer’s UM/UIM Carrier
Oct 3, 2024

Maine High Court Clarifies When Interest on Specific-Loss Benefits Begins to Accrue for Specific Eye Injuries

In a well-reasoned decision that illustrates the difficulties courts sometime face in balancing competing interests within a workers’ compensation dispute, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine recently held that when...

Maine High Court Clarifies When Interest on Specific-Loss Benefits Begins to Accrue for Specific Eye Injuries Maine High Court Clarifies When Interest on Specific-Loss Benefits Begins to Accrue for Specific Eye Injuries
Oct 2, 2024

Nebraska High Court: Expert’s Use of “Associated” Was Sufficient to Establish Causation

The Supreme Court of Nebraska recently affirmed an award of benefits to a claimant who alleged respiratory injuries from wearing a UV-sterilized N95 mask at work [Prinz v. Omaha Operations...

Nebraska High Court: Expert’s Use of “Associated” Was Sufficient to Establish Causation Nebraska High Court: Expert’s Use of “Associated” Was Sufficient to Establish Causation
Sep 30, 2024

NY: Google Employee’s Post-Happy Hour Accident Arose From Employment

The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently affirmed a state Workers’ Compensation Board decision finding that a Google account executive’s injuries sustained after leaving a...

NY: Google Employee’s Post-Happy Hour Accident Arose From Employment NY: Google Employee’s Post-Happy Hour Accident Arose From Employment

New Comments

  • 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
  • Thomas A. Robinson: Good point, although the interesting thing about the case--at least to me--is that it discusses the important "injury by accident" issue. That issue, present in at least a plurality of state acts, is largely ignored by Commissions, Boards, and Courts these days. Here, also, the case was so fact-specific that even it had been issued as published, it would be factually distinguishable from many othe...
  • kathlyn gorman: It should have been noted in your discussion that this is an unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Thus, it does not constitute controlling legal authority.
  • Thomas A. Robinson: You're correct. Ordinarily, I can depend upon Alabama to provide me with at least one case for "the List." I'll bet 2022 will unearth something bizarre from the Great State of Alabama. Take care.