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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

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Mar 8, 2021

Third Edition of AMA Guides is “Starting Point” for Impairment Ratings in Colorado

The mandate provided in Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 101(3)(a)(I) and 101(3.7), that impairment ratings must be “based on” the revised third edition of AMA Guides, does not prevent a...

Third Edition of AMA Guides is “Starting Point” for Impairment Ratings in Colorado Third Edition of AMA Guides is “Starting Point” for Impairment Ratings in Colorado
Mar 4, 2021

NH High Court Sends Medical Marijuana Case Back to Board for Second Time

In a well-written opinion that should be earmarked by law students (and attorneys) who desire a relatively concise discussion of federal preemption law, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire has,...

NH High Court Sends Medical Marijuana Case Back to Board for Second Time NH High Court Sends Medical Marijuana Case Back to Board for Second Time
Mar 2, 2021

MS Claimant Establishes Claim in Spite of Cautious Medical Testimony

A Mississippi appellate court affirmed an ALJ’s decision, affirmed by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission, that an employee’s stress fracture in her right foot was work-related, entitling the employee to...

MS Claimant Establishes Claim in Spite of Cautious Medical Testimony MS Claimant Establishes Claim in Spite of Cautious Medical Testimony
Mar 1, 2021

NY Court Says “Yes” to Medical Marijuana

A New York appellate court has affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that allowed a variance to the state treatment guidelines for workers’ compensation claims and which...

NY Court Says “Yes” to Medical Marijuana NY Court Says “Yes” to Medical Marijuana
Feb 23, 2021

W. Va Claimant’s PTSD Claim Fails in Spite of Her Use of Earlier Case as a “Template”

In a deeply divided (3-2) memorandum decision, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed a decision rejecting the claim of a cashier at a gaming parlor who contended...

W. Va Claimant’s PTSD Claim Fails in Spite of Her Use of Earlier Case as a “Template” W. Va Claimant’s PTSD Claim Fails in Spite of Her Use of Earlier Case as a “Template”
Feb 22, 2021

Arkansas Muscle Strain Claim May Be Compensable Where Physician Did Not Observe Spasms

Construing Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(4)(D) (Supp. 2019), which indicates that a compensable injury must be established by medical evidence supported by objective findings [emphasis mine], an Arkansas appellate court...

Arkansas Muscle Strain Claim May Be Compensable Where Physician Did Not Observe Spasms Arkansas Muscle Strain Claim May Be Compensable Where Physician Did Not Observe Spasms
Feb 18, 2021

Colorado High Court Says Injured Employee May Not Recover Via Co-Employee’s UM/UIM Policy

An injured employee is barred by operation of Colorado’s Workers’ Compensation Act’s exclusivity and co-employee immunity principles from bringing a UM/UIM benefits action against a co-employee vehicle owner’s insurer for...

Colorado High Court Says Injured Employee May Not Recover Via Co-Employee’s UM/UIM Policy Colorado High Court Says Injured Employee May Not Recover Via Co-Employee’s UM/UIM Policy
Feb 16, 2021

Arkansas Court Stresses Difference Between “Idiopathic” and “Unexplained”

An Arkansas appellate court affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to an employee who suffered mysterious GI bleeding while completing workers’ compensation claims forms at his employer’s facility, and...

Arkansas Court Stresses Difference Between “Idiopathic” and “Unexplained” Arkansas Court Stresses Difference Between “Idiopathic” and “Unexplained”
Feb 15, 2021

Alabama Trucker Not Bound by Jurisdictional Limitation in Her Employment Agreement

Where an Alabama resident sustained injuries in a work-related vehicular accident in Alabama, she could seek workers’ compensation benefits before an Alabama court in spite of a broad provision in...

Alabama Trucker Not Bound by Jurisdictional Limitation in Her Employment Agreement Alabama Trucker Not Bound by Jurisdictional Limitation in Her Employment Agreement
Feb 12, 2021

NY Court Remands Case Where Occupational Disease Disablement Date Was Close to Date Policy Lapsed

Where an employee retired in 2014, and was determined to be disabled by an occupational disease in 2016, at which time his employer had no workers’ compensation policy in effect–and...

NY Court Remands Case Where Occupational Disease Disablement Date Was Close to Date Policy Lapsed NY Court Remands Case Where Occupational Disease Disablement Date Was Close to Date Policy Lapsed
Feb 11, 2021

Surveillance Video Leads to NY Board’s Finding of Disqualification under § 114-a

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that found an injured employee had misrepresented his physical condition to his treating physicians–videotape surveillance showed...

Surveillance Video Leads to NY Board’s Finding of Disqualification under § 114-a Surveillance Video Leads to NY Board’s Finding of Disqualification under § 114-a
Feb 9, 2021

NJ High Court Allows Claim for Injury Sustained During Charity’s “Fun Day”

Where a chef/cook, employed by a non-profit organization, sustained injuries at her employer’s “Family Fun Day”, an event that included recreational activities, games and music, held on a Saturday for...

NJ High Court Allows Claim for Injury Sustained During Charity’s “Fun Day” NJ High Court Allows Claim for Injury Sustained During Charity’s “Fun Day”

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