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 ParadoxMany 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 DecisionsConstruing Iowa's special co-employee immunity statute [Iowa Code § 85.20(2)], pursuant to which a coemployee is not immune from tort liability if his or her gross negligence causes injury to...
Iowa Employee’s Tort Action Against Co-Employees Alleging Gross Negligence Fails Iowa Employee’s Tort Action Against Co-Employees Alleging Gross Negligence FailsWhile proximity of time between an employee’s injury and her firing is generally sufficient to make out a prima facie case for retaliatory discharge, a recent federal district court decision...
Opinion Mondays: Proximity in Time Between Injury and Firing is Not Always Sufficient to Establish Prima Facie Retaliatory Discharge Claim Opinion Mondays: Proximity in Time Between Injury and Firing is Not Always Sufficient to Establish Prima Facie Retaliatory Discharge ClaimIn Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc., 2021 Cal. LEXIS 1 (Jan. 14, 2021), the Supreme Court of California held its earlier Dynamex decision [Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior...
California Supreme Court Says Dynamex Should be Applied Retroactively California Supreme Court Says Dynamex Should be Applied RetroactivelyThe Court of Appeals of Mississippi affirmed a decision of the state's Workers' Compensation Commission that found an injured worker was entitled to PPD benefits of $81.38 per week for...
MS Court Reiterates Claimant May Qualify for PPD Benefits in Spite of Increased Earnings MS Court Reiterates Claimant May Qualify for PPD Benefits in Spite of Increased EarningsAn Ohio appellate court affirmed a verdict entered by a trial court on a jury verdict finding an injured employee was entitled to participate in the benefits provided under the...
Ohio Court Appropriately Instructs Jury on “Eggshell Head” Theory of Liability Ohio Court Appropriately Instructs Jury on “Eggshell Head” Theory of LiabilityA federal district court, sitting in California, granted–in relevant part–an employer’s motion to dismiss two causes of action alleging negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress filed by a...
Federal Court (Cal.) Says Tort Claim Alleging Unsafe COVID-19 Conditions is Barred by Exclusivity Rule Federal Court (Cal.) Says Tort Claim Alleging Unsafe COVID-19 Conditions is Barred by Exclusivity RuleIn a much anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Kansas reversed an August 2018 decision of the state's Court of Appeals that had struck down as unconstitutional the use of...
Kansas Supreme Court Says Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides is Constitutional Kansas Supreme Court Says Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides is ConstitutionalAs I have noted many times on this blog site and elsewhere, more than 30 years ago my mentor, Dr. Arthur Larson, and I began a quirky—though humorous—New Year’s tradition....
The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2020 The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2020The 120-day period for providing notice of injury to the employer found in Section 311 of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act [77 P.S. §631] is, as are all time frames...
Sunday Doesn’t Count for PA’s 120-day Notice to Employer Even if It’s Open for Business Sunday Doesn’t Count for PA’s 120-day Notice to Employer Even if It’s Open for BusinessThe Supreme Court of Nevada reiterated that the state’s workers’ compensation statutes clearly and unambiguously protected every person in the service of an employer, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed, including...
NV High Court Reiterates That Undocumented Workers May Recover Indemnity Benefits NV High Court Reiterates That Undocumented Workers May Recover Indemnity BenefitsSeveral weeks ago, an attorney friend called for some advice. One of his clients had asked if the client’s business might face additional liability if–once the COVID-19 vaccines are generally...
Opinion Mondays: Do Employers Face Additional Liability for COVID-19 Vaccination Side Effects? Opinion Mondays: Do Employers Face Additional Liability for COVID-19 Vaccination Side Effects?Evidence that a highly trained firearms instructor failed to observe known safety rules, resulting in the fatal shooting of a co-employee in a training exercise, while tragic, was not enough...
Deceased Employee’s Heirs May Not Maintain Tort Action Against Mississippi Employer Following Training Exercise Shooting Deceased Employee’s Heirs May Not Maintain Tort Action Against Mississippi Employer Following Training Exercise Shooting
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