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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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Sep 22, 2021

Catch 22 Prevents Florida Officer From Utilizing Presumption of Compensability

A Florida appellate court affirmed a decision by a judge of compensation claims that found a law enforcement officer was not entitled to the special presumption of compensability related to...

Catch 22 Prevents Florida Officer From Utilizing Presumption of Compensability Catch 22 Prevents Florida Officer From Utilizing Presumption of Compensability
Sep 21, 2021

Florida Court Construes One-Time Change of Physician Statute

Where an injured employee sought a one-time change of physician and, within the five-day period designated in § 440.13(2)(f), Fla. Stat., was first given a referral physician and appointment options...

Florida Court Construes One-Time Change of Physician Statute Florida Court Construes One-Time Change of Physician Statute
Sep 20, 2021

NY Claimant’s Service Upon Third-Party Administrator Was Not Service Upon the Carrier Itself

While it is often said that the procedural aspects of a workers’ compensation dispute are largely informal, with the parties not always being bound to the narrowest interpretations of notice...

NY Claimant’s Service Upon Third-Party Administrator Was Not Service Upon the Carrier Itself NY Claimant’s Service Upon Third-Party Administrator Was Not Service Upon the Carrier Itself
Sep 16, 2021

NY Court Says Collateral Estoppel Bars Injured Worker’s Subsequent Negligence Action Against Defendants

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision by a state trial court that granted defendants summary judgment in a negligence action filed against them related to the alleged malfunction...

NY Court Says Collateral Estoppel Bars Injured Worker’s Subsequent Negligence Action Against Defendants NY Court Says Collateral Estoppel Bars Injured Worker’s Subsequent Negligence Action Against Defendants
Sep 14, 2021

Res Judicata Does Not Bar KY Employee From Reopening Claim

Quoting Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, and stressing that the doctrine of res judicata should be applied differently in workers’ compensation cases than in the usual context of a judicial action,...

Res Judicata Does Not Bar KY Employee From Reopening Claim Res Judicata Does Not Bar KY Employee From Reopening Claim
Sep 13, 2021

SC Commission is Immune From Suit After Apparent Stumbling With Attorney’s Fee Lien

A South Carolina appellate court affirmed a decision by a state trial court that dismissed the civil action filed against the S.C. Workers’ Compensation Commission by a law firm who...

SC Commission is Immune From Suit After Apparent Stumbling With Attorney’s Fee Lien SC Commission is Immune From Suit After Apparent Stumbling With Attorney’s Fee Lien
Sep 2, 2021

Va. Employee’s Injuries Sustained While Moving Under Descending Door Are Compensable

In an opinion not designated for publication, the Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to an employee of an auto dealership who sustained injuries...

Va. Employee’s Injuries Sustained While Moving Under Descending Door Are Compensable Va. Employee’s Injuries Sustained While Moving Under Descending Door Are Compensable
Sep 1, 2021

KY Supreme Court Says Statute Terminating Income Benefits at Age 70 is Constitutional

The Kentucky Supreme Court held the 2018 amendment to Ky. Rev. Stat. 342.730(4), which terminates workers’ compensation income benefits when the recipient reaches the age of 70 or four years...

KY Supreme Court Says Statute Terminating Income Benefits at Age 70 is Constitutional KY Supreme Court Says Statute Terminating Income Benefits at Age 70 is Constitutional
Aug 30, 2021

GA Worker’s Subsequent Fall at Home Was an Intervening Cause of Current Condition

A Georgia appellate court found that a state superior court erred when it reversed the State Board of Workers’ Compensation’s determination that an injured worker had recovered from a work-related...

GA Worker’s Subsequent Fall at Home Was an Intervening Cause of Current Condition GA Worker’s Subsequent Fall at Home Was an Intervening Cause of Current Condition
Aug 26, 2021

Delaware Board Must Decide if COVID-Related Claim is Compensable

The Superior Court of Delaware (New Castle) held that the issue of whether an employee’s fatal COVID-19 infection was an injury or occupational disease must be determined by the state’s...

Delaware Board Must Decide if COVID-Related Claim is Compensable Delaware Board Must Decide if COVID-Related Claim is Compensable
Aug 24, 2021

Oregon Employee Recovers Benefits Following Explosion of Energy Drink

In a case with a rather bizarre fact pattern, an Oregon appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that awarded benefits to a painter who sustained...

Oregon Employee Recovers Benefits Following Explosion of Energy Drink Oregon Employee Recovers Benefits Following Explosion of Energy Drink
Aug 23, 2021

SD Worker’s Letter Asking for “Review of Benefits” Was Inadequate to Toll Limitations Statute

Acknowledging the relative informality within the South Dakota workers’ compensation laws as well as the public policy that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act and its rules should be construed liberally...

SD Worker’s Letter Asking for “Review of Benefits” Was Inadequate to Toll Limitations Statute SD Worker’s Letter Asking for “Review of Benefits” Was Inadequate to Toll Limitations Statute

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