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Jun 8, 2026

South Carolina’s Mental-Injury Paradox

A South Carolina employee alleged that his manager threatened him, accused him of dishonesty, called the police, suspended him, and ultimately fired him. He then sued his employer for negligent...

South Carolina’s Mental-Injury Paradox South Carolina’s Mental-Injury Paradox
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

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Apr 20, 2021

Iowa Court Says “Near Miss” Report Can Serve as Notice of Injury to Employer

Affirming a decision by an Iowa district court that found, under the circumstances of the case, that the employee had provided the employer with sufficient notice of injury pursuant to...

Iowa Court Says “Near Miss” Report Can Serve as Notice of Injury to Employer Iowa Court Says “Near Miss” Report Can Serve as Notice of Injury to Employer
Apr 19, 2021

NY Worker’s Failure to Stay in Touch With Employer Results in Finding that Worker Withdrew From Labor Market

Observing that in New York, the issue of voluntary retirement and/or withdrawal from the labor market were factual issues to be determined by the Board, and that the Board had...

NY Worker’s Failure to Stay in Touch With Employer Results in Finding that Worker Withdrew From Labor Market NY Worker’s Failure to Stay in Touch With Employer Results in Finding that Worker Withdrew From Labor Market
Apr 16, 2021

Job Application Inconsistencies Excused by NY Claimant’s Lack of Computer Skills

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that found a claimant had not violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 114-a, where various potential...

Job Application Inconsistencies Excused by NY Claimant’s Lack of Computer Skills Job Application Inconsistencies Excused by NY Claimant’s Lack of Computer Skills
Apr 15, 2021

Colorado Comp Carrier’s Settlement With Third-Party Defendant Partially Undermines Employee’s Tort Claim

A deeply divided Supreme Court of Colorado (three justices dissenting), reversing in relevant part a decision of a split division of the Court of Appeals, held that a settlement between...

Colorado Comp Carrier’s Settlement With Third-Party Defendant Partially Undermines Employee’s Tort Claim Colorado Comp Carrier’s Settlement With Third-Party Defendant Partially Undermines Employee’s Tort Claim
Apr 14, 2021

NJ Supreme Court Agrees Employer May Be Required to Reimburse for Medical Marijuana

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, in Hager v. M&K Construction, 2021 N.J. LEXIS 332 (April 13, 2021), affirmed a decision of the state’s Appellate Division that earlier had...

NJ Supreme Court Agrees Employer May Be Required to Reimburse for Medical Marijuana NJ Supreme Court Agrees Employer May Be Required to Reimburse for Medical Marijuana
Apr 12, 2021

Opinion Mondays: NY Recreational Marijuana Law Could End Most Post-Injury Cannabis Testing

For some time now, in many states, when a worker has sustained a work-related injury requiring treatment at an emergency department or hospital, he or she typically has had two...

Opinion Mondays: NY Recreational Marijuana Law Could End Most Post-Injury Cannabis Testing Opinion Mondays: NY Recreational Marijuana Law Could End Most Post-Injury Cannabis Testing
Apr 7, 2021

Attorney’s Knowledge of Work-Relatedness Imputed to TN Claimant, Barring Claim as Untimely Filed

In an unpublished decision, the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court of Tennessee affirmed a decision of a state trial court that found an employee’s workers’ compensation...

Attorney’s Knowledge of Work-Relatedness Imputed to TN Claimant, Barring Claim as Untimely Filed Attorney’s Knowledge of Work-Relatedness Imputed to TN Claimant, Barring Claim as Untimely Filed
Apr 6, 2021

Fatal Shooting of SC Motel Worker Found Compensable Under “Bunkhouse Rule”

The Court of Appeals of South Carolina affirmed a decision by the Appellate Panel of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that awarded death benefits to the children of a motel...

Fatal Shooting of SC Motel Worker Found Compensable Under “Bunkhouse Rule” Fatal Shooting of SC Motel Worker Found Compensable Under “Bunkhouse Rule”
Apr 5, 2021

NY High Court Says Claimant’s Estate Due Only Portion of Posthumous SLU Award

The Court of Appeals of New York, construing N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 15(4)(d), which generally limits recovery by a claimant’s estate to an amount not exceeding reasonable funeral expenses...

NY High Court Says Claimant’s Estate Due Only Portion of Posthumous SLU Award NY High Court Says Claimant’s Estate Due Only Portion of Posthumous SLU Award
Apr 2, 2021

Virginia Pharmacy is “Health Care Provider” for Purposes of Statute of Limitations

A Virginia pharmacy is a “health care provider” that must file its claims within the one-year period prescribed in Va. Code Ann. § 65.2-605.1(F), held the Court of Appeals of...

Virginia Pharmacy is “Health Care Provider” for Purposes of Statute of Limitations Virginia Pharmacy is “Health Care Provider” for Purposes of Statute of Limitations
Mar 30, 2021

Safety Violation Cannot Be Imputed to Kentucky Temporary Staffing Company

Lamenting that under the plain wording of Ky. Rev. Stat. § 342.165(1), a temporary staffing company can only be liable for the special 30 percent enhancement of workers’ compensation benefits...

Safety Violation Cannot Be Imputed to Kentucky Temporary Staffing Company Safety Violation Cannot Be Imputed to Kentucky Temporary Staffing Company
Mar 29, 2021

Opinion Mondays: Settlements in Contested Cases Can be Fraught With Equitable Challenges

Bankruptcy Court Nixes WI Claimant’s Effort to Avoid Paying Med Providers Where a Wisconsin worker settled a contested workers’ compensation claim with his employer and its insurer by means of...

Opinion Mondays: Settlements in Contested Cases Can be Fraught With Equitable Challenges Opinion Mondays: Settlements in Contested Cases Can be Fraught With Equitable Challenges

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