Newest Articles

Jul 21, 2026

Utah High Court: Suspension, Not Dismissal, Is the Only Sanction for Obstructing an IME

Statute’s Specific Remedy Overrides Rule 37 Discovery Sanctions, Even After Three Failed Medical Exams The Supreme Court of Utah has held that dismissal is not an available sanction for a...

Utah High Court: Suspension, Not Dismissal, Is the Only Sanction for Obstructing an IME Utah High Court: Suspension, Not Dismissal, Is the Only Sanction for Obstructing an IME
Jul 16, 2026

Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break

PA Court Finds a 15-Minute Break’s Brevity Outweighs Its Formality The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to a pharmacy technician struck by a...

Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break
Jul 14, 2026

Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field

Idaho Federal Court Finds Surveillance and a Full-Duty Release Defeat Workers' Comp Retaliatory Discharge Claim The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho recently granted summary judgment for a...

Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field
Jul 13, 2026

FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims

Risk-Exposure Evidence Alone Can Establish the Causal Link, Justices Hold Last Thursday, In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Muñiz, the Supreme Court of Florida held that a workplace assault...

FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims

All Articles

ARCHIVE
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
Apr 28, 2021

Illinois Court Tacitly Says No Recovery Since Injury Was Claimant’s Fault

An Illinois appellate court affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to a university employee who sustained injuries when she tripped and fell as she stepped over a chain barrier...

Illinois Court Tacitly Says No Recovery Since Injury Was Claimant’s Fault Illinois Court Tacitly Says No Recovery Since Injury Was Claimant’s Fault
Apr 27, 2021

West Virginia High Court Says Unexplained Fall is Compensable

In a memorandum opinion, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Office of Judges, which had been affirmed by the Board...

West Virginia High Court Says Unexplained Fall is Compensable West Virginia High Court Says Unexplained Fall is Compensable
Apr 26, 2021

Sixth Circuit Affirms $50K Punitive Damages Award for TN Employer’s Retaliation Against Undocumented Worker

In a case that has yo-yo’d between a federal district court (W.D. Tenn.) and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the latter affirmed, in relevant part, a decision by the...

Sixth Circuit Affirms $50K Punitive Damages Award for TN Employer’s Retaliation Against Undocumented Worker Sixth Circuit Affirms $50K Punitive Damages Award for TN Employer’s Retaliation Against Undocumented Worker
Apr 23, 2021

In Missouri “Upside-Down” Case, Parents Fail to Prove Son’s Death was Caused by Obesity

In an unusual, “upside-down” case, in which the parents of a deceased employee argued that their son’s death was not compensable, because it was caused, in part they claimed, by...

In Missouri “Upside-Down” Case, Parents Fail to Prove Son’s Death was Caused by Obesity In Missouri “Upside-Down” Case, Parents Fail to Prove Son’s Death was Caused by Obesity
Apr 22, 2021

Girlfriend’s Dependency Claim Filed in Face of NC Supreme Court Decision Does Not Warrant Sanctions

Notwithstanding the doctrine of stare decisis, in this case a clear holding by the North Carolina Supreme Court that a person living in cohabitation with another, to whom he or...

Girlfriend’s Dependency Claim Filed in Face of NC Supreme Court Decision Does Not Warrant Sanctions Girlfriend’s Dependency Claim Filed in Face of NC Supreme Court Decision Does Not Warrant Sanctions
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

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