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 IMEPA 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 BreakIdaho 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 FieldRisk-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 ClaimsAs 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 GroundsR.I. Gen. Laws § 45-19.1-1 (1956) does not create a conclusive presumption that cancer in firefighters arises out of and in the course of the employment, held a divided Supreme...
Divided Rhode Island Supreme Court Nixes Conclusive Cancer Presumptions for Firefighters Divided Rhode Island Supreme Court Nixes Conclusive Cancer Presumptions for FirefightersIn a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Nevada addressed the traveling employee rule and, quoting Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 25.01, approved of the so-called Larson rule...
Nevada Supreme Court Sets Out Rules Regarding Traveling Employees Nevada Supreme Court Sets Out Rules Regarding Traveling EmployeesIn an interesting case that illustrates the tension between some of the recent technological “advances” that purportedly streamline traditional workplace practices, a federal district court yesterday held that a plaintiff’s...
Federal Court Says Action under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act is Not Barred by Exclusivity Federal Court Says Action under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act is Not Barred by ExclusivityWhere a New York workers’ compensation claimant admitted that, prior to his work-related injury, he had been told by an employer’s representative that the employer had contacted the claimant’s union...
Proximity of NY Worker’s Termination to Claim Could Not Alone Establish Retaliatory Motive Proximity of NY Worker’s Termination to Claim Could Not Alone Establish Retaliatory MotiveA regulation of New York’s Workers’ Compensation Board [N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs., tit. 12, § 300.13(b)(1)(i)] that authorizes the Board to dismiss an application for Board review where...
State Court Strikes Down New York Board’s Eight-Page Brief Limitation State Court Strikes Down New York Board’s Eight-Page Brief LimitationIn a split decision, a Florida appellate court held that an employee’s injuries sustained while bowling with co-workers during an employer-sponsored event arose out of and in the course of...
Divided Florida Court Says On-the-Clock Bowling Outing Was Not a Recreational Event Divided Florida Court Says On-the-Clock Bowling Outing Was Not a Recreational EventEmployer Balks at Out-of-State MD’s Recommendation of Long-Term Opioid Cocktail That an injured worker’s “Form 50” physician had died and the worker had subsequently moved from Nebraska to Florida did...
Nebraska Employer Need Not Pay for Unauthorized Medical Treatment in Florida Following Worker’s Relocation Nebraska Employer Need Not Pay for Unauthorized Medical Treatment in Florida Following Worker’s RelocationAt about this time each year, I highlight what I think are the ten most important workers’ compensation decisions reported during the calendar year. In some respects, 2019 has been...
Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Cases of 2019 Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Cases of 2019
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