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 DecisionsOver the past several weeks, as the coronavirus pandemic has raged across the United States, several state governors and a number of state legislatures have announced, and in a few...
Opinion Mondays: “Old” Case Law May Be Key to Many Coronavirus Claims Opinion Mondays: “Old” Case Law May Be Key to Many Coronavirus ClaimsApplying Virginia’s so-called “actual risk test,” a state appellate court affirmed a decision by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission that had denied benefits to a school security officer who fell...
Virginia School Guard’s Injuries Allegedly Caused by Wind Were Not Compensable Virginia School Guard’s Injuries Allegedly Caused by Wind Were Not CompensableIn a real “head-scratcher,” an Arkansas appellate court, relying on a 50-year-old decision of the state’s Supreme Court, held that the Arkansas Commission did not err when it determined that...
Arkansas Carrier Wins: Requires Premiums Be Paid on Worker’s Earnings, Then Says He Was Independent Contractor Arkansas Carrier Wins: Requires Premiums Be Paid on Worker’s Earnings, Then Says He Was Independent ContractorLast Wednesday (March 25), North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed Executive Order 2020-12 that, as of March 13, 2020, purports to extend special worker compensation protections to first responders, health...
New Feature: Opinion Mondays — In the COVID-19 Medical Crisis, Who Is on the Front Line? New Feature: Opinion Mondays — In the COVID-19 Medical Crisis, Who Is on the Front Line?Acknowledging that when South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Commission makes a credibility determination based on substantial evidence, that credibility finding itself is substantial evidence, and factual findings properly based on such...
SC Supreme Court Stresses Commission May Not Use Credibility as a Wild Card SC Supreme Court Stresses Commission May Not Use Credibility as a Wild CardA California appellate court affirmed a $2.9 million judgment entered against a former movie industry employer who botched the green card application process of one of its foreign employees, resulting...
$2.9 Million California Judgment Against Employer Stands in Muddled Green Card Application Case $2.9 Million California Judgment Against Employer Stands in Muddled Green Card Application CaseConstruing South Dakota’s “no progress” rule [S.D. Admin. R. 47:03:01:09], which allows the state’s Department of Labor to dismiss a workers’ compensation petition when there has been “no activity for...
SD Supreme Court Construes State’s “No Progress” Rule in Comp Cases SD Supreme Court Construes State’s “No Progress” Rule in Comp CasesReversing a lower appellate court, the Supreme Court of Texas held that because the summary judgment evidence established that a deputy sheriff — who died in a vehicular accident involving...
TX Deputy’s Fatal Injuries While Traveling Home in Patrol Car Were Compensable TX Deputy’s Fatal Injuries While Traveling Home in Patrol Car Were CompensableCautioning that the analysis of the case by the state’s Department of Labor had come “perilously close to the prohibited concept of contributory negligence or fault,” the Supreme Court of...
SD Supreme Court Stresses Fault and Negligence Have No Role in Workers’ Comp Disputes SD Supreme Court Stresses Fault and Negligence Have No Role in Workers’ Comp DisputesConstruing the “dual purpose” rule, as utilized in Mississippi, the state’s Court of Appeals, in a deeply divided (6-4) decision, affirmed a decision of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission that...
Personal Deviation Sinks Mississippi Salesman’s Claim Personal Deviation Sinks Mississippi Salesman’s ClaimA New York appellate court affirmed a determination by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that an employer violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 120 — the state’s anti-retaliation statute —...
NY Employer’s Quick Firing After Employee’s Injury Was Retaliatory NY Employer’s Quick Firing After Employee’s Injury Was RetaliatoryA New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that directed that a claimant be weaned from his narcotic prescription medications in accordance with the...
NY Court Affirms Board’s Decision to Require Weaning From Opioids NY Court Affirms Board’s Decision to Require Weaning From Opioids
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