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
Nov 12, 2020

Sedgwick Prevails in Dispute Over Unpaid Prescription Charges for Louisiana Claimant

Reversing 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 Claimant
Nov 11, 2020

Ohio Staff Hearing Officer is to Utilize Equitable Principles in Reviewing VSSR Settlement Agreements

Where 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 Agreements
Nov 10, 2020

Virginia Court Says Employee’s MRSA Was Consequential Injury Related to Earlier Work-Related Dog Bite

Quoting 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 Bite
Nov 9, 2020

Opinion Mondays: California Voters Tell Elected Officials to Leave Their Ride-Sharing Alone

While 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 Alone
Nov 5, 2020

Broad Release in VSSR Settlement Agreement Sinks Subsequent Action for Spoliation of Evidence

An 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
Nov 3, 2020

GA Court: Establishing Res Judicata is Difficult as to Medical Issues

Stressing that because a claimant’s course of treatment is fluid and may evolve over time as either the claimant’s condition changes, the recommendations of the authorized treating physician change, or...

GA Court: Establishing Res Judicata is Difficult as to Medical Issues GA Court: Establishing Res Judicata is Difficult as to Medical Issues
Nov 2, 2020

Massachusetts High Court Adopts New Jurisdictional Test for Extra-Territorial Injuries

In a case of first impression, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that the jurisdictional test for extra-territorial injuries employed by the review Board of the Department of Industrial...

Massachusetts High Court Adopts New Jurisdictional Test for Extra-Territorial Injuries Massachusetts High Court Adopts New Jurisdictional Test for Extra-Territorial Injuries
Oct 30, 2020

Louisiana Temp Worker Injured Two Hours After Reporting for Work May Not Sue Borrowing Employer in Tort

A Louisiana appellate court reversed a decision by a state trial court that had denied a corporate defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a negligence action filed against it by...

Louisiana Temp Worker Injured Two Hours After Reporting for Work May Not Sue Borrowing Employer in Tort Louisiana Temp Worker Injured Two Hours After Reporting for Work May Not Sue Borrowing Employer in Tort
Oct 28, 2020

Massachusetts High Court Says Comp Insurer Need Not Pay for Medical Marijuana

Yesterday, in a decision that is certain to draw attention in a host of other jurisdictions, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, quoting Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, held a workers’...

Massachusetts High Court Says Comp Insurer Need Not Pay for Medical Marijuana Massachusetts High Court Says Comp Insurer Need Not Pay for Medical Marijuana
Oct 27, 2020

NY Board May Not Employ "Novel" Standard for Work-at-Home Injuries

In a decision that has important ramifications for other claims filed in the Empire State by employees working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a state appellate court reversed...

NY Board May Not Employ "Novel" Standard for Work-at-Home Injuries NY Board May Not Employ "Novel" Standard for Work-at-Home Injuries
Oct 23, 2020

Foreseeability of Ohio Worker's Depression is Not a Factor in Judging Compensability of Mental Condition

An Ohio appellate court reversed a trial court’s determination that an injured worker had not sustained a compensable mental injury–Depressive Disorder, not otherwise specified–stemming from her original 2007 knee injury,...

Foreseeability of Ohio Worker's Depression is Not a Factor in Judging Compensability of Mental Condition Foreseeability of Ohio Worker's Depression is Not a Factor in Judging Compensability of Mental Condition
Oct 22, 2020

Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Lower Court's Attempt to Clarify "Sudden Mechanical or Structural Change" Rule

Reversing an earlier decision of the state’s Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Virginia held that the phrase “injury by accident” linked two discrete concepts—an injury and an accident—that...

Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Lower Court's Attempt to Clarify "Sudden Mechanical or Structural Change" Rule Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Lower Court's Attempt to Clarify "Sudden Mechanical or Structural Change" Rule

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