In Garcia v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 6549 (2d Cir. Mar. 5, 2026), the Second Circuit denied a petition for review filed by a...
Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore ActEvery dollar spent on workers’ compensation falls into one of two broad categories: benefits paid to injured workers—medical care and wage replacement—and the costs of delivering those benefits. The second...
New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering BenefitsIn Motors v. Bayly (Red House Motors d/b/a Bayly’s Garage), 2026 Del. LEXIS 92 (Mar. 2, 2026), the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Superior Court decision that the high court...
Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor CoverageIn Publix Super Markets, Inc. v. Department of Financial Services, 2026 Fla. App. LEXIS 1469 (Fla. 1st DCA Feb. 25, 2026), the First District Court of Appeal recently held that...
Florida Court Invalidates Rules Expanding “Absolute Choice” Pharmacy Provision Florida Court Invalidates Rules Expanding “Absolute Choice” Pharmacy ProvisionA Florida trial court erroneously granted a former employer summary judgment in a retaliatory discharge action filed by a former employee where the trial court based its decision on the...
Firing Injured Florida Worker Before He Could File Claim Did Not Preclude Retaliatory Discharge Action Firing Injured Florida Worker Before He Could File Claim Did Not Preclude Retaliatory Discharge ActionWith a conflicting web of state versus state policies that would make any Conflict of Laws professor salivate, a federal district court in Pennsylvania found a choice of law provision...
War Between the States: Federal Court Decides PA Law Precludes Third-Party Indemnity Action Against Employer War Between the States: Federal Court Decides PA Law Precludes Third-Party Indemnity Action Against EmployerIn a split decision, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of an injured Tennessee worker’s intentional tort action against her employer based on the district court’s finding...
Divided Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Intentional Tort Action Filed against TN employer Divided Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Intentional Tort Action Filed against TN employerConstruing Va. Code Ann. § 65.2-503(C), which provides for PTD benefits, rather than PPD benefits, when an individual suffers the loss of use of two limbs in the same accident,...
Virginia Court Says Injuries Occurring Two Years Apart Can Actually Be From the “Same Accident” Virginia Court Says Injuries Occurring Two Years Apart Can Actually Be From the “Same Accident”In a proverbial “battle of the statutes,” an Iowa appellate court held that, under the facts of the case, a workers’ compensation decision granting a claimant’s application for alternate medical...
Iowa Claimant Allowed Alternate Treatment in Spite of Employer’s IME Request Iowa Claimant Allowed Alternate Treatment in Spite of Employer’s IME RequestIn a case of first impression, earlier today (January 13, 2020), the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed an order of a state workers’ compensation judge...
NJ Court Approves Order Requiring Employer to Reimburse Worker for Medical Marijuana NJ Court Approves Order Requiring Employer to Reimburse Worker for Medical MarijuanaIn an unusual case that shows how traditional procedural rules can sometimes be disregarded in workers’ compensation cases, a New York appellate court affirmed a finding of the state’s Workers’...
NY Court Affirms Use of Hearsay Evidence to Establish Employee Fraud NY Court Affirms Use of Hearsay Evidence to Establish Employee FraudIn 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 failed to establish, through a diligent, relevant search for employment, that he maintained the required connection to the labor market....
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 SystemAs is the rule in many jurisdictions [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 7.04], New York provides a presumption of compensability for accidents occurring during the course of employment which...
“Substantial” Evidence, Not Just “Some” Evidence Required to Rebut NY Presumption Regarding Unwitnessed Injuries “Substantial” Evidence, Not Just “Some” Evidence Required to Rebut NY Presumption Regarding Unwitnessed InjuriesAs I have noted many times on this blog site, more than 30 years ago my mentor, Dr. Arthur Larson, and I began a quirky—though humorous—New Year’s tradition. On an...
The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2019 The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2019Reversing itself (in relevant part), a divided Supreme Court of Idaho cast aside a year-old decision and, after re-argument, adopted what amounts to a reckless standard in so-called “intentional” tort...
Idaho High Court Does “a 180”: Employees May Sue Employers for Reckless Conduct Idaho High Court Does “a 180”: Employees May Sue Employers for Reckless ConductA recent decision from the Empire State, Matter of Keller v. Cumberland Farms, 2019 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9113 (3d Dept. Dec. 19, 2019), illustrates a point sometimes lost on...
NY Court Bars IME Physician’s Testimony on Strict Procedural Grounds NY Court Bars IME Physician’s Testimony on Strict Procedural Grounds
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