Newest Articles

Mar 10, 2026

Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act

In Garcia v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 6549 (2d Cir. Mar. 5, 2026), the Second Circuit denied a petition for review filed by a...

Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act
Mar 6, 2026

New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits

Every dollar spent on workers’ compensation falls into one of two broad categories: benefits paid to injured workers—medical care and wage replacement—and the costs of delivering those benefits. The second...

New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits
Mar 5, 2026

Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage

In Motors v. Bayly (Red House Motors d/b/a Bayly’s Garage), 2026 Del. LEXIS 92 (Mar. 2, 2026), the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Superior Court decision that the high court...

Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage
Mar 3, 2026

Florida Court Invalidates Rules Expanding “Absolute Choice” Pharmacy Provision

In Publix Super Markets, Inc. v. Department of Financial Services, 2026 Fla. App. LEXIS 1469 (Fla. 1st DCA Feb. 25, 2026), the First District Court of Appeal recently held that...

Florida Court Invalidates Rules Expanding “Absolute Choice” Pharmacy Provision Florida Court Invalidates Rules Expanding “Absolute Choice” Pharmacy Provision

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May 23, 2022

120-Pound Weight Gain Might (or Might Not) Sink Idaho Worker’s Aggravation Claim

In a meticulous and well-reasoned opinion weighing and discussing multiple issues, the Supreme Court of Idaho held that the state’s Industrial Commission committed error when it ruled that the claimant’s...

120-Pound Weight Gain Might (or Might Not) Sink Idaho Worker’s Aggravation Claim 120-Pound Weight Gain Might (or Might Not) Sink Idaho Worker’s Aggravation Claim
May 17, 2022

Texas Court Stresses Comp Carrier is Entitled to Full “First Money” in Worker’s Third-Party Tort Settlement

Reiterating that aTexas workers’ compensation carrier is entitled to the “first money” an injured worker recovered in a third-party tort action—here, settlement of a medical malpractice claim—and stressing further that...

Texas Court Stresses Comp Carrier is Entitled to Full “First Money” in Worker’s Third-Party Tort Settlement Texas Court Stresses Comp Carrier is Entitled to Full “First Money” in Worker’s Third-Party Tort Settlement
May 9, 2022

RI Supreme Court Broadens “Parking Lot” Rule to Include Leased Properties

Under Rhode Island’s so-called Branco exception to the going and coming rule, an employee and/or the employee’s dependents may recover workers’ compensation benefits where the employee’s injury or death results...

RI Supreme Court Broadens “Parking Lot” Rule to Include Leased Properties RI Supreme Court Broadens “Parking Lot” Rule to Include Leased Properties
May 5, 2022

NC Court Reiterates that Full Commission, Not the Deputy Commissioner, is the Ultimate Factfinder

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-85(a), which empowers the North Carolina Industrial Commission to reconsider the evidence before the deputy commissioner, and to amend the deputy commissioner’s award “if good ground...

NC Court Reiterates that Full Commission, Not the Deputy Commissioner, is the Ultimate Factfinder NC Court Reiterates that Full Commission, Not the Deputy Commissioner, is the Ultimate Factfinder
May 3, 2022

To Rebut Idaho’s Cancer Presumption Favoring Firefighters, Employer Must Offer Evidence that Cancer was Not Caused by Employment

The Supreme Court of Idaho, construing Idaho Code § 72-438(14)(b), which generally provides firefighters with a rebuttable presumption that certain listed cancers have a causal connection with the employment, held...

To Rebut Idaho’s Cancer Presumption Favoring Firefighters, Employer Must Offer Evidence that Cancer was Not Caused by Employment To Rebut Idaho’s Cancer Presumption Favoring Firefighters, Employer Must Offer Evidence that Cancer was Not Caused by Employment
May 2, 2022

Lay Testimony Insufficient to Establish Causation for MS Claimant

Where a police officer had sustained three prior work-related injuries and sought to receive compensation for an alleged injury to his neck, the burden was on the employee to show...

Lay Testimony Insufficient to Establish Causation for MS Claimant Lay Testimony Insufficient to Establish Causation for MS Claimant
Apr 29, 2022

Florida Court Stresses There is No “Field Employee” Exception to Statutory Going and Coming Rule

A Florida appellate court held that a judge of compensation claims committed error when he determined that a construction worker who sustained severe injuries in a vehicular accident as he...

Florida Court Stresses There is No “Field Employee” Exception to Statutory Going and Coming Rule Florida Court Stresses There is No “Field Employee” Exception to Statutory Going and Coming Rule
Apr 26, 2022

NY Court Says Existence of Medical Restrictions Are Alone Insufficient to Establish Reduced Earnings Claim

A New York appellate court affirmed the state Board’s rescission of a WCLJ’s reduced earnings award where it found that while the workers’ compensation claimant did have medical restrictions following...

NY Court Says Existence of Medical Restrictions Are Alone Insufficient to Establish Reduced Earnings Claim NY Court Says Existence of Medical Restrictions Are Alone Insufficient to Establish Reduced Earnings Claim
Apr 25, 2022

California High Court May Take Another Look at Employer’s Liability for COVID-19 Contracted by Employee’s Family Member

In an important case that may define—at least in California—an employer’s responsibility for injuries sustained when an employee’s family member contracts COVID-19 as a result of an infection that is...

California High Court May Take Another Look at Employer’s Liability for COVID-19 Contracted by Employee’s Family Member California High Court May Take Another Look at Employer’s Liability for COVID-19 Contracted by Employee’s Family Member
Apr 22, 2022

NY Court Affirms Apportionment of Liability Between Special and General Employers

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that apportioned liability for the benefits due under an injured employee’s workers’ compensation claim between the...

NY Court Affirms Apportionment of Liability Between Special and General Employers NY Court Affirms Apportionment of Liability Between Special and General Employers
Apr 19, 2022

NY Court Disapproves of Board’s Retroactive Disqualification for Lack of Labor Market Attachment

Reversing a portion of a decision by the New York Workers’ Compensation Board, a state appellate court stressed that the appropriate date of a finding of no labor market attachment...

NY Court Disapproves of Board’s Retroactive Disqualification for Lack of Labor Market Attachment NY Court Disapproves of Board’s Retroactive Disqualification for Lack of Labor Market Attachment
Apr 18, 2022

Divided R.I. High Court Says Workers’ Comp Release Was Sufficiently Broad to Bar Discrimination Claim Against Employer

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island, with two justices dissenting, reversed a decision of a county Superior Court judge that had granted summary judgment to a former employee who contended...

Divided R.I. High Court Says Workers’ Comp Release Was Sufficiently Broad to Bar Discrimination Claim Against Employer Divided R.I. High Court Says Workers’ Comp Release Was Sufficiently Broad to Bar Discrimination Claim Against Employer

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