When Cancer Meets Causation: Wrestling with Medical Mystery in 1951 In workers’ compensation law, few challenges prove more vexing than establishing causation when the medical community itself admits ignorance about...
Throwback Thursday: Boyd v. Young (1951) Throwback Thursday: Boyd v. Young (1951)In an important decision construing the Iowa doctrine that allows gross negligence and fraudulent misrepresentation tort claims against co-employees, the Iowa Supreme Court has revived claims against Tyson Foods executives...
Iowa High Court Says Gross Negligence/Fraud Claims Can Go Forward Against Tyson Executives Iowa High Court Says Gross Negligence/Fraud Claims Can Go Forward Against Tyson ExecutivesA Horseplay Case That Shaped Utah’s Workers’ Compensation Doctrine In Prows v. Industrial Commission of Utah, 610 P.2d 1362 (Utah 1980), the Supreme Court of Utah was presented with a...
Throwback Thursday: Prows v. Industrial Commission of Utah (1980) Throwback Thursday: Prows v. Industrial Commission of Utah (1980)Exclusivity Does Not Shield Corporate Officers/Property Owners From Liability as Landlords In Nelson v. Smith, 2025 N.C. App. LEXIS 306 (May 21, 2025), the North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed...
When the Boss Wears Two Hats When the Boss Wears Two HatsConstruing N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-2(6), which defines “injury” to mean “only injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment” [emphasis added], the Court of...
NC Court Construes State’s “Injury by Accident” Requirement NC Court Construes State’s “Injury by Accident” RequirementCopyright 2022. Thomas A. Robinson. All rights reserved. This post may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or format, without the express written consent of...
The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2021 The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2021A Florida appellate court has affirmed a decision of a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) holding that an injured firefighter was not entitled to reimbursement for additional surgical expenses related...
Florida Court Agrees Firefighter Not Entitled to Reimbursement for Back Surgery Florida Court Agrees Firefighter Not Entitled to Reimbursement for Back SurgeryIn a claim tangental to a highly-publicized 2019 indictment for alleged workers’ compensation fraud, a New York appellate court held that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board abused its discretion when...
NY Board Abused Discretion in Failing to Allow Carrier’s Review Application NY Board Abused Discretion in Failing to Allow Carrier’s Review ApplicationNoting that a medical opinion need not be expressed with absolute medical certainty as long as it signified a probability of the underlying cause that was supported by a rational...
NY Firefighter Successfully Proved PTSD Claim Based Upon Multiple Gruesome Incidents NY Firefighter Successfully Proved PTSD Claim Based Upon Multiple Gruesome IncidentsIn a decision that is turning heads in the Keystone State, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, stressing the importance differences between two words—“shall” and “may”—reversed a decision by the state’s...
PA Supreme Court “Corrects” Long-Standing Rule Regarding Award of Attorney’s Fees Against Employer Who Reasonably Contests Issues PA Supreme Court “Corrects” Long-Standing Rule Regarding Award of Attorney’s Fees Against Employer Who Reasonably Contests IssuesIn an important decision that is certain to garner attention well beyond California’s borders, a California appellate court denied a petition for writ of mandate filed by an employer who...
California Comp Act Does Not Bar COVID-19 Wrongful Death Claim California Comp Act Does Not Bar COVID-19 Wrongful Death ClaimDodging an issue that had spawned multiple amicus curiae briefs regarding an interesting (and important) question—whether an employee’s representation in a workers’ compensation settlement agreement that he had only suffered...
IL Supreme Court Sidesteps Important Issue on Technical Grounds IL Supreme Court Sidesteps Important Issue on Technical GroundsAn Iowa appellate court affirmed a district court’s decision affirming the denial of death benefits to a widow whose husband committed suicide mere hours after he had been terminated from...
Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits in Suicide Case Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits in Suicide CaseA federal district court, construing Missouri law, dismissed a civil action filed by one employee against another alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress (“NIED”) and intentional infliction of emotional distress...
Federal Court Dismisses Racially-Based IIED Suit Filed Against Co-Employee Federal Court Dismisses Racially-Based IIED Suit Filed Against Co-EmployeeA divided division of the Arkansas Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision by the state’s Board of Pharmacy that revoked the permit and license of a pharmacy and an...
Arkansas Court Affirms Revocation of Pharmacy License in Pain Cream Cases Arkansas Court Affirms Revocation of Pharmacy License in Pain Cream CasesIn a stinging decision, the Court of Appeals of South Carolina ruled that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission had abused its discretion in summarily dismissing the appeal by an insurance...
SC Appellate Court Chides Commission for Summarily Dismissing Appeal SC Appellate Court Chides Commission for Summarily Dismissing Appeal
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