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 DecisionsWhere a hospital entered into a contract with a management services company (“the management company”), pursuant to which the management company trained and sometimes supervised the hospital’s “housekeepers,” but where...
NY Hospital Employee’s Tort Action Against Outside Management Services Company Barred by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine NY Hospital Employee’s Tort Action Against Outside Management Services Company Barred by Exclusive Remedy DoctrineIn Missouri, where employers have elected to accept mesothelioma liability pursuant to a special provision of the state Act — Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.200.4(3)(a)(2013) — the employer becomes liable...
Missouri Claimants Not Entitled to Statutory “Enhanced Benefit” for Worker’s Mesothelioma Missouri Claimants Not Entitled to Statutory “Enhanced Benefit” for Worker’s MesotheliomaAn Arkansas appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that held an injured worker had failed to rebut the presumption that his work-related injury was “substantially...
Arkansas Worker Fails to Rebut Presumption After Positive Drug Test Arkansas Worker Fails to Rebut Presumption After Positive Drug TestWhere the Georgia Board found that the employee’s work-related injuries had resolved prior to the date the employee requested a change in her treating physician, it was appropriate for the...
Georgia Employee Not Entitled to Change in Physician Since Injury Was Resolved Georgia Employee Not Entitled to Change in Physician Since Injury Was ResolvedConstruing Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 23-1043.01(B), which denies coverage for mental injuries, such as PTSD, unless some “unexpected, unusual or extraordinary stress related to the employment … was a substantial...
Unusual “Event” Versus Unusual “Stress”: AZ Court Says Commission Should Reconsider Deputy Sheriff’s PTSD Claim Unusual “Event” Versus Unusual “Stress”: AZ Court Says Commission Should Reconsider Deputy Sheriff’s PTSD ClaimIt is axiomatic that the procedural law of workers’ compensation takes its lead and tone from the beneficent nature of the legislation. Except in those few jurisdictions utilizing court administration...
Around the Horn: Admissibility of Hearsay in Workers’ Compensation Cases Around the Horn: Admissibility of Hearsay in Workers’ Compensation CasesAcknowledging that in most cases in Utah, an injured worker who is capable of returning to work full-time cannot be considered to have sustained permanent total disability, a state appellate...
Utah Worker Found to Have Sustained PTD In Spite of His Return to Work Utah Worker Found to Have Sustained PTD In Spite of His Return to WorkIn a case construing Ohio’s unique law and rules regarding the violation of a specific safety requirement, a state appellate court refused to overturn a decision by the state’s Industrial...
Ohio Fire Department Hit With Safety Penalty Ohio Fire Department Hit With Safety PenaltyFlorida’s Rule 60Q-6.109 of the state’s Rules of Procedure for Workers’ Compensation Adjudications provides that if an act required or allowed to be done falls on a holiday or weekend...
Florida’s 30-Day Grace Period to Avoid Attorney’s Fees is Not Extended for Holidays and Weekends Florida’s 30-Day Grace Period to Avoid Attorney’s Fees is Not Extended for Holidays and WeekendsUnder N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 15(3), schedule loss of use (SLU) awards may be awarded only for a statutorily-enumerated member — for example, a leg or an arm —...
New York SLU Awards Made for “Members”, not for Body Parts Making up Those Members New York SLU Awards Made for “Members”, not for Body Parts Making up Those MembersAn Illinois appellate court affirmed an order of a county circuit court that, in turn, confirmed a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission reversing an award of attorney fees...
Illinois Act Provides No Penalties for Delay in Authorizing Medical Treatment Illinois Act Provides No Penalties for Delay in Authorizing Medical TreatmentYesterday, a New York appellate court affirmed a decision by a panel of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that set counsel fees for the claimant’s attorney at $8,000, instead of...
NY Court Affirms Board’s Reduction of Attorney Fee to 45 Percent of Amount Requested NY Court Affirms Board’s Reduction of Attorney Fee to 45 Percent of Amount Requested
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