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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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Jan 11, 2021

The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2020

As 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 2020
Jan 7, 2021

Sunday Doesn’t Count for PA’s 120-day Notice to Employer Even if It’s Open for Business

The 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 Business
Jan 4, 2021

NV High Court Reiterates That Undocumented Workers May Recover Indemnity Benefits

The 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 Benefits
Dec 28, 2020

Opinion Mondays: Do Employers Face Additional Liability for COVID-19 Vaccination Side Effects?

Several 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?
Dec 23, 2020

Deceased Employee’s Heirs May Not Maintain Tort Action Against Mississippi Employer Following Training Exercise Shooting

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
Dec 21, 2020

Opinion Mondays: States Shouldn’t Treat PTD Awards as Estate Planning Tools

Iowa Commutation Order Allows for Substantial Inheritable Estate Illustrating just how far some states have moved away from the original workers’ compensation principle that indemnity benefits are not an inheritable...

Opinion Mondays: States Shouldn’t Treat PTD Awards as Estate Planning Tools Opinion Mondays: States Shouldn’t Treat PTD Awards as Estate Planning Tools
Dec 18, 2020

NY Claimant Should Be Awarded Scheduled Injury to Leg for Serious Hamstring Tear

Reversing a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board, a New York appellate court held that, contrary to the Board’s interpretation, in the absence of specific instructions regarding hamstring tears...

NY Claimant Should Be Awarded Scheduled Injury to Leg for Serious Hamstring Tear NY Claimant Should Be Awarded Scheduled Injury to Leg for Serious Hamstring Tear
Dec 17, 2020

Florida First Responder’s PTSD Claim is Untimely Filed

A Florida appellate court held the 52-week filing requirement found in § 112.1815(5)(d), Fla. Stat., operated as a statute of repose, and not as a statute of limitations. Under the...

Florida First Responder’s PTSD Claim is Untimely Filed Florida First Responder’s PTSD Claim is Untimely Filed
Dec 14, 2020

Opinion Mondays: Those Hiring Undocumented Workers Should Not be Allowed to Game the System

In a deeply divided (3-2) decision, a New York appellate court reversed a decision by the state's Workers' Compensation Compensation Board that had found an injured, undocumented construction worker had...

Opinion Mondays: Those Hiring Undocumented Workers Should Not be Allowed to Game the System Opinion Mondays: Those Hiring Undocumented Workers Should Not be Allowed to Game the System
Dec 11, 2020

NY Pharmacist May Proceed in Tort Against Entity Affiliated With His Employer

Finding that a NY corporation had failed to establish either that it and Plaintiff’s employer–a related entity–were part of a single integrated entity or that one of the corporations controlled...

NY Pharmacist May Proceed in Tort Against Entity Affiliated With His Employer NY Pharmacist May Proceed in Tort Against Entity Affiliated With His Employer
Dec 10, 2020

MS Court Reverses Commission Order Granting Sanctions Against Employer

A Mississippi appellate court held the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission erred when it entered an order that required an employer/carrier to pay attorney’s fees of $4,000 as a sanction for...

MS Court Reverses Commission Order Granting Sanctions Against Employer MS Court Reverses Commission Order Granting Sanctions Against Employer
Dec 8, 2020

Texas Employee’s Suit Against Co-Worker for Dog Bite is Barred by Exclusivity

A defendant/co-worker’s act of bringing her dog to the employer’s residential facility for pregnant women to serve as a comfort animal was an activity that had to do with and...

Texas Employee’s Suit Against Co-Worker for Dog Bite is Barred by Exclusivity Texas Employee’s Suit Against Co-Worker for Dog Bite is Barred by Exclusivity

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