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 PhysicianCourt 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 ImmunityNew 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 DecisionsIn 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 TreatmentConstruing the “parking lot” exception to the standard going and coming rule, an Oregon appellate court affirmed an award of benefits to a dental hygienist who sustained injuries when she...
Oregon Employee’s Slip and Fall Claim in “Annex Parking Area” Not Barred by Going and Coming Rule Oregon Employee’s Slip and Fall Claim in “Annex Parking Area” Not Barred by Going and Coming RuleA New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that denied benefits to a claims examiner who alleged that she had sustained injuries to her...
Waiting 19 Months to Seek Medical Treatment Proves Fatal to NY Claims Examiner’s Case Waiting 19 Months to Seek Medical Treatment Proves Fatal to NY Claims Examiner’s CaseFollowing Tampa Electric Company's motion for rehearing regarding its October 20, 2020 decision, in which Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal had held that the public utility company’s obligation to...
Florida’s Second DCA Reverses Itself; Public Utility Was “Contractor” as to its Maintenance Efforts Florida’s Second DCA Reverses Itself; Public Utility Was “Contractor” as to its Maintenance EffortsAddressing a difficult factual pattern for the second time, the Supreme Court of Alaska affirmed a trial court’s decision that had granted summary judgment in favor of a general contractor...
Alaska Supreme Court Says Estate’s Wrongful Death Action is Barred by Exclusivity Even When Comp Benefits are Limited to Burial Expenses Alaska Supreme Court Says Estate’s Wrongful Death Action is Barred by Exclusivity Even When Comp Benefits are Limited to Burial ExpensesWhere there was a clear discrepancy between the schedule loss of use (SLU) percentage indicated on the face of a surgeon’s C-4.3 form (Doctor’s Report of Maximum Medical Improvement/Permanent Impairment)...
Battle of the Forms: NY Board Abuses Discretion in Failing to Reopen Claim Battle of the Forms: NY Board Abuses Discretion in Failing to Reopen ClaimObserving that Utah has recognized the intentional tort exception to exclusivity in cases falling under the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA), but had not (yet) extended the exception to cases...
Utah High Court Hints that Intentional Tort Exception to Exclusivity Might Not Apply to Occupational Disease Claims Utah High Court Hints that Intentional Tort Exception to Exclusivity Might Not Apply to Occupational Disease ClaimsAcknowledging that pursuant to KRS 342.0011(1), Kentucky does not allow recovery for work-related psychological injuries unless they are the “direct result” of a physical injury [emphasis added], the Supreme Court...
Kentucky High Court Construes Mental Injury Statute and Affirms Award Kentucky High Court Construes Mental Injury Statute and Affirms AwardAddressing an important issue within the modern workplace—whether in a joint employment context, staffing agencies may be liable employers for safety violations under the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act...
Washington Supreme Court Says Staffing Agencies May Sometimes Be Liable for Safety Violations Washington Supreme Court Says Staffing Agencies May Sometimes Be Liable for Safety ViolationsCiting precedent from the Supreme Court of Texas, a lower appellate court held that the going and coming rule—a creature of the workers’ compensation setting—could be applied in plaintiff’s vicarious-liability...
Going and Coming Rule Bars Recovery in Texas Plaintiff’s Vicarious Liability Action Going and Coming Rule Bars Recovery in Texas Plaintiff’s Vicarious Liability ActionIn 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 ObligationThe 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 casesThe 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
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