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Comp Decisions NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp DecisionsIn an unpublished decision, the Supreme Court of Nevada affirmed an award of permanent total disability benefits to an undocumented worker who sustained severe injuries to his head when a...
Nevada Court Affirms PTD Award to Undocumented Worker on Odd-Lot Basis Nevada Court Affirms PTD Award to Undocumented Worker on Odd-Lot BasisThe Court of Appeals of Maryland, in a divided decision, held the state’s Court of Special Appeals erred in concluding, as a matter of law, that Tyson Farms was a...
MD’s Highest Court Says Lower Court Erred in Reversing a Jury’s Finding as to Co-Employer Status MD’s Highest Court Says Lower Court Erred in Reversing a Jury’s Finding as to Co-Employer StatusAmong the factors adding complexity to the issue of whether a particular worker is an employee or an independent contractor is the sheer number of tests that might be utilized...
Opinion Mondays: Tests for Employment Status Appear to Grow on Trees Opinion Mondays: Tests for Employment Status Appear to Grow on TreesA federal district court in Texas held that a Texas employee’s civil action against his non-subscribing employer did not arise out of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act (“TWCA”), in spite...
Texas Employee’s Suit Against Non-Subscribing Employer Can Be Removed to Federal Court Texas Employee’s Suit Against Non-Subscribing Employer Can Be Removed to Federal CourtThe Court of Appeals of North Carolina affirmed a decision by the state’s Industrial Commission that denied additional medical benefits claimed by an injured worker on statute of limitations grounds...
Medical Provider's Decision to Bill Medicare, Rather than Carrier, Results in NC Employee's Loss of Benefits on Statute of Limitations Grounds Medical Provider's Decision to Bill Medicare, Rather than Carrier, Results in NC Employee's Loss of Benefits on Statute of Limitations GroundsStressing that the state's Workers' Compensation Board had broad discretion in weighing medical evidence as to causation, a New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the Board denying workers'...
New York Painter Fails to Establish Causal Relation Between Employment and Myocardial Infarction New York Painter Fails to Establish Causal Relation Between Employment and Myocardial InfarctionWithin the community of workers’ compensation professionals, most of our COVID-19 attention has been directed to presumptions of compensability and to the relatively unprecedented awarding of benefits to employees who...
Opinion Mondays: COVID-19 and the Going and Coming Rule Opinion Mondays: COVID-19 and the Going and Coming RuleReversing a decision of the state’s Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC), a Louisiana appellate court held the State was not responsible for almost $48,000 in unpaid prescription bills related to...
Sedgwick Prevails in Dispute Over Unpaid Prescription Charges for Louisiana Claimant Sedgwick Prevails in Dispute Over Unpaid Prescription Charges for Louisiana ClaimantWhere Ohio Adm.Code 4121-3-20(F)(1) provides that a staff hearing officer (“SHO”) is to determine whether an agreed settlement of a violation of a specific safety regulation (VSSR) application is “appropriate...
Ohio Staff Hearing Officer is to Utilize Equitable Principles in Reviewing VSSR Settlement Agreements Ohio Staff Hearing Officer is to Utilize Equitable Principles in Reviewing VSSR Settlement AgreementsQuoting Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 10.01, a Virginia appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that awarded workers’ compensation benefits to an employee who developed...
Virginia Court Says Employee’s MRSA Was Consequential Injury Related to Earlier Work-Related Dog Bite Virginia Court Says Employee’s MRSA Was Consequential Injury Related to Earlier Work-Related Dog BiteWhile many politicians and pundits are still trying to digest what did, or didn’t happened in the national election races, at least one state-level electoral preference was made abundantly clear....
Opinion Mondays: California Voters Tell Elected Officials to Leave Their Ride-Sharing Alone Opinion Mondays: California Voters Tell Elected Officials to Leave Their Ride-Sharing AloneAn Ohio appellate court recently affirmed a decision of a state trial court that granted summary judgment in favor of an employer in a civil action filed against it by...
Broad Release in VSSR Settlement Agreement Sinks Subsequent Action for Spoliation of Evidence Broad Release in VSSR Settlement Agreement Sinks Subsequent Action for Spoliation of Evidence
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