Newest Articles

Jun 5, 2026

Iowa Supreme Court: Employer Not Bound by Opinion of Its Own Treating Physician

Many disputes over physician choice in workers’ compensation arise when an injured worker seeks treatment from a doctor of his or her own choosing. Hayes v. Christian Retirement Homes, Inc.,...

Iowa Supreme Court: Employer Not Bound by Opinion of Its Own Treating Physician Iowa Supreme Court: Employer Not Bound by Opinion of Its Own Treating Physician
Jun 2, 2026

Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity

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 Immunity
Jun 1, 2026

NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions

New 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 Decisions
May 27, 2026

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment

In 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 Treatment

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Mar 29, 2022

MT Court Weighs Difficult AWW Issues in Concurrent Employment Claim

In a decision that illustrates the tender balance attempted in state Workers’ Compensation Acts between fairness to the injured employee and fairness to the employer and/or carrier, the Workers’ Compensation...

MT Court Weighs Difficult AWW Issues in Concurrent Employment Claim MT Court Weighs Difficult AWW Issues in Concurrent Employment Claim
Mar 22, 2022

Kansas General Contractor Found Liable for Benefits Owed to Uninsured Subcontractor’s Injured Worker

In a complex case that saw the Court opine on the distinction between “judicial dictum” and “obiter dictum,” the Kansas Supreme Court held that a general contractor could be liable...

Kansas General Contractor Found Liable for Benefits Owed to Uninsured Subcontractor’s Injured Worker Kansas General Contractor Found Liable for Benefits Owed to Uninsured Subcontractor’s Injured Worker
Mar 21, 2022

Under FL Statute, “Traveling Employee” is Not in “Travel Status” While Driving Home from Work

Reversing a decision by a state judge of compensation claims (JCC) that had awarded workers’ compensation benefits to a Florida HVAC technician who sustained injuries in a vehicular accident as...

Under FL Statute, “Traveling Employee” is Not in “Travel Status” While Driving Home from Work Under FL Statute, “Traveling Employee” is Not in “Travel Status” While Driving Home from Work
Mar 15, 2022

Claim of FL Airlines Employee Barred by Going and Coming Statute

Construing Florida’s “going and coming” statute, § 440.092(2), Fla. Stat., a state appellate court affirmed a finding by a judge of compensation claims that injuries sustained by an American Airlines...

Claim of FL Airlines Employee Barred by Going and Coming Statute Claim of FL Airlines Employee Barred by Going and Coming Statute
Mar 14, 2022

Virginia Widow Loses Death From Radar Beams Claim

In an unusual case in which a surviving spouse claimed that her husband’s death from a heart attack had been caused by his three-week exposure to radar beams at work,...

Virginia Widow Loses Death From Radar Beams Claim Virginia Widow Loses Death From Radar Beams Claim
Mar 8, 2022

Federal Court: Settlement Agreement Created Express Trust Favoring Injured Worker’s Medical Providers

A federal district court, sitting in Wisconsin, has affirmed a decision by a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge that found $400,000 paid into the trust account of an injured worker’s attorney, and...

Federal Court: Settlement Agreement Created Express Trust Favoring Injured Worker’s Medical Providers Federal Court: Settlement Agreement Created Express Trust Favoring Injured Worker’s Medical Providers
Mar 7, 2022

Nebraska Court Agrees Truck Driver Was Independent Contractor

In a decision that stands in stark contrast to court holdings in some other states—particularly California—a Nebraska appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s compensation court that had found...

Nebraska Court Agrees Truck Driver Was Independent Contractor Nebraska Court Agrees Truck Driver Was Independent Contractor
Feb 25, 2022

NY Board Errs in Setting Disablement Date for Repetitive Stress Injury

A decision by the New York Workers’ Compensation Board that a claimant should have been aware of the work-related nature of his back pain and injury in June 2017, at...

NY Board Errs in Setting Disablement Date for Repetitive Stress Injury NY Board Errs in Setting Disablement Date for Repetitive Stress Injury
Feb 24, 2022

Florida Court Re-examines Valcourt-Williams “Increased Risk” Analysis

A Florida appellate court held that a state JCC had erred when the JCC denied compensability of a claim in which an employee suffered an unexplained fall as she walked...

Florida Court Re-examines Valcourt-Williams “Increased Risk” Analysis Florida Court Re-examines Valcourt-Williams “Increased Risk” Analysis
Feb 22, 2022

Florida Teacher’s Fall After His Leg Went to Sleep is Not Compensable

A Florida appellate court affirmed a state JCC’s denial of a claim filed by a teacher who sustained a broken left femur when he lost his balance and fell after...

Florida Teacher’s Fall After His Leg Went to Sleep is Not Compensable Florida Teacher’s Fall After His Leg Went to Sleep is Not Compensable
Feb 21, 2022

NV Cannabis Dispensary’s Employee Might Recover for Injuries Sustained in Altercation with Customer

Finding that a Nevada appeals officer had focused too narrowly on an employee’s work-related duties and had not considered the totality of the circumstances in determining if the employee’s injury...

NV Cannabis Dispensary’s Employee Might Recover for Injuries Sustained in Altercation with Customer NV Cannabis Dispensary’s Employee Might Recover for Injuries Sustained in Altercation with Customer
Feb 17, 2022

Civil Action Related to COVID-19 Death of Texas Employee Barred by Exclusivity

A federal district court, sitting in Texas and construing Texas law, granted a defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment in a civil action filed against it by the family of a...

Civil Action Related to COVID-19 Death of Texas Employee Barred by Exclusivity Civil Action Related to COVID-19 Death of Texas Employee Barred by Exclusivity

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