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Jan 6, 2025

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim

In Collins v. Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART), 2024 Iowa App. LEXIS 918 (Dec. 18, 2024), the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed denial of workers’ compensation benefits to...

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim
Jan 6, 2025

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence

In Spisa-Kline v. Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, 2024 Neb. App. LEXIS 750 (Dec. 31, 2024), the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the employer in a workers’ compensation...

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence
Dec 31, 2024

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits

Appeals Court Examines Going and Coming Rule The Oregon Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded a Workers’ Compensation Board decision that had denied benefits to a worker injured while...

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits
Dec 30, 2024

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

Insurer Had No Duty to Defend Intentional Tort Claim Against Co-Employee In Ortez v. Penn Nat’l Sec. Ins. Co., 2024 N.C. App. LEXIS 1017 (Dec. 17, 2024), the North Carolina...

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

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Oct 25, 2021

UIM Insurer May Offset IL Employee’s Comp Benefits Against Policy Obligation

In a decision not designated for publication, an Illinois appellate court held that a trial court did not err in granting judgment on the pleadings favoring an auto insurance company...

UIM Insurer May Offset IL Employee’s Comp Benefits Against Policy Obligation UIM Insurer May Offset IL Employee’s Comp Benefits Against Policy Obligation
Oct 22, 2021

Ohio Supreme Court Reiterates Commission’s Power to Reject Settlements in VSSR cases

The Supreme Court of Ohio, affirming a decision of a lower state appellate court, held that the Ohio Industrial Commission had properly rejected a proposed settlement related to an employer’s...

Ohio Supreme Court Reiterates Commission’s Power to Reject Settlements in VSSR cases Ohio Supreme Court Reiterates Commission’s Power to Reject Settlements in VSSR cases
Oct 21, 2021

CT Court Affirms Death Benefits Award Following Suicide

The Appellate Court of Connecticut affirmed an award of death benefits to the spouse of an employee who committed suicide following a work-related knee injury, finding that substantial evidence supported...

CT Court Affirms Death Benefits Award Following Suicide CT Court Affirms Death Benefits Award Following Suicide
Oct 19, 2021

Subrogated Georgia Insurer Has No Fiduciary Duty to Protect Injured Employee’s Interests

OCGA § 34-9-11.1, Georgia’s statute that gives the insurer (or employer) the right to “assert the employee’s cause of action in tort” against a third party or parties if the...

Subrogated Georgia Insurer Has No Fiduciary Duty to Protect Injured Employee’s Interests Subrogated Georgia Insurer Has No Fiduciary Duty to Protect Injured Employee’s Interests
Oct 18, 2021

MN Supreme Court Says No to Mandatory Reimbursement for Medical Marijuana

In two companion decisions, a divided Supreme Court of Minnesota held that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) lacks jurisdiction to decide whether federal law preempts Minnesota law...

MN Supreme Court Says No to Mandatory Reimbursement for Medical Marijuana MN Supreme Court Says No to Mandatory Reimbursement for Medical Marijuana
Oct 15, 2021

New Hampshire High Court Adopts “Chain-of-Causation Test” for Suicides

In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, adopted the “chain-of-causation test” for suicides and affirmed a decision by the state’s Compensation Appeals Board (CAB) that...

New Hampshire High Court Adopts “Chain-of-Causation Test” for Suicides New Hampshire High Court Adopts “Chain-of-Causation Test” for Suicides
Oct 12, 2021

Failure of Injured NY Worker to Disclose Auto Accident to IME Physician Results in Loss of Benefits

The New York Workers’ Compensation Board was within its powers when it found an injured worker had violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 114-a, by failing to disclose on an...

Failure of Injured NY Worker to Disclose Auto Accident to IME Physician Results in Loss of Benefits Failure of Injured NY Worker to Disclose Auto Accident to IME Physician Results in Loss of Benefits
Oct 11, 2021

NY Worker Barred From Future Benefits Even After Paying Comp Insurer $63K From Settlement Proceeds

Despite the fact that a workers’ compensation insurer was aware of an injured worker’s third-party action against the driver of a motor vehicle, and even received and accepted more than...

NY Worker Barred From Future Benefits Even After Paying Comp Insurer $63K From Settlement Proceeds NY Worker Barred From Future Benefits Even After Paying Comp Insurer $63K From Settlement Proceeds
Oct 5, 2021

West Virginia Court Stresses Six-Month Statute of Limitations is Strictly Construed

W. Va. Code 23-4-15(a), which requires workers’ compensation claims to be filed within six months from and after the date of injury or death, as the case may be, is...

West Virginia Court Stresses Six-Month Statute of Limitations is Strictly Construed West Virginia Court Stresses Six-Month Statute of Limitations is Strictly Construed
Oct 4, 2021

Florida JCC Errs in Failing to Appoint EMA to Resolve Medical Dispute

Where a Florida workers’ compensation claimant disagreed with the medical opinion of the employer/carrier’s authorized physician, sought a one-time change in physicians pursuant to § 440.13(2)(f), Fla. Stat., saw a...

Florida JCC Errs in Failing to Appoint EMA to Resolve Medical Dispute Florida JCC Errs in Failing to Appoint EMA to Resolve Medical Dispute
Oct 1, 2021

Wisconsin Court Says UIM Carrier May Not Deduct Comp Benefits Subject to Subrogation Lien

A Wisconsin appellate court held that a deceased worker’s automobile insurance carrier, which had written a policy that included underinsured motorist’s (UIM) limits of $250,000, may only reduce its coverage...

Wisconsin Court Says UIM Carrier May Not Deduct Comp Benefits Subject to Subrogation Lien Wisconsin Court Says UIM Carrier May Not Deduct Comp Benefits Subject to Subrogation Lien
Sep 30, 2021

Ohio Claimant Disqualified from TTD Because She Gave Two-Week Notice Four Days Before Injury

An Ohio appellate court recently reversed a state Commission’s decision that had awarded TTD benefits to an employee who gave his employer a two-week notice that she intended to leave...

Ohio Claimant Disqualified from TTD Because She Gave Two-Week Notice Four Days Before Injury Ohio Claimant Disqualified from TTD Because She Gave Two-Week Notice Four Days Before Injury

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.