Many 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 DecisionsIn a case involving a Nebraska truck driver-farm laborer whose treatment for metastatic cancer was allegedly postponed by complications associated with a compensable hip injury and its resulting treatment, the...
Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer TreatmentIn New York, where an injured employee dies without leaving a surviving spouse, child under 18 years old or dependent, only that portion of the employee's schedule loss of use...
NY Worker’s Estate Entitled Only to Portion of Posthumous Schedule Loss of Use Award NY Worker’s Estate Entitled Only to Portion of Posthumous Schedule Loss of Use AwardConstruing Kentucky’s “up-the-ladder” statutory employer framework, a state appellate court recently reiterated that workers' compensation immunity is extended to contractors—those who contract with another to have work performed of a...
“Regular” or “Recurrent” is Key to Statutory Employer Issue in Kentucky “Regular” or “Recurrent” is Key to Statutory Employer Issue in Kentucky$14 Million Verdict Stands, Worker’s Duties, Although “Essential,” Were Not Part of Defendant’s Business In a South Carolina wrongful death action, the state’s Court of Appeals recently affirmed a trial...
SC Court Affirms Finding That Maintenance Worker Was Not Statutory Employee of Manufacturer SC Court Affirms Finding That Maintenance Worker Was Not Statutory Employee of ManufacturerReverses Lower Court That Disallowed TD Benefits Since Firefighter Had No Lost Wages Earlier today, reversing a late 2017 decision of the state’s Appellate Division [see my earlier discussion of...
NJ Supreme Court Says Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Deserves Temporary Disability Benefits NJ Supreme Court Says Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Deserves Temporary Disability BenefitsRules of Evidence Do Not Strictly Apply to Comp Hearings Stressing that in workers’ compensation hearings, the Kansas Rules of Evidence do not apply and that even hearsay evidence may...
Divided Kansas Court Says Lab Test Results Showing Marijuana Were Admissible Divided Kansas Court Says Lab Test Results Showing Marijuana Were AdmissibleTennessee Employer Does Enjoy Lien for Disability Indemnity & Medical Expenses In a case of first impression, a Tennessee appellate court recently held that an employer does not enjoy a...
Nurse Case Management Fees Not Part of Employer’s Subrogation Lien Nurse Case Management Fees Not Part of Employer’s Subrogation LienOregon Court Says “Impossibility” May be Established by Medical “Probability” Oregon, like the majority of American jurisdictions, employs the “last injurious exposure” rule to assign liability among multiple employers in...
Last Injurious Exposure: What Does “Impossible” Mean? Last Injurious Exposure: What Does “Impossible” Mean?Employer’s Payment of Medical Charges Revives Expired Statute of Limitations Reversing the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board, which had relied upon what it thought was established precedent (i.e., a 1936 decision...
Kansas Court of Appeals Jettisons 82-Year-Old Supreme Court Precedent Kansas Court of Appeals Jettisons 82-Year-Old Supreme Court PrecedentViolation of Known Safety Rule Prevents Recovery for Injuries A decision to enter a fenced area at the employer’s facility through an unapproved opening, instead of through the approved interlock...
Virginia Worker’s “Short-Cut” Results in Denial of Benefits Virginia Worker’s “Short-Cut” Results in Denial of BenefitsPotential $435K Annual Compensation Under Standard Contract Deemed Too Contingent The Court of Appeals of Virginia recently affirmed a determination by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that fixed a professional...
Virginia Court Affirms Professional Football Tryout’s AWW of $783.63 Virginia Court Affirms Professional Football Tryout’s AWW of $783.63Where an overnight attendant at a rest area was stabbed in the face by a former co-worker whose motive could not be determined—the assailant committed suicide later the same day—the...
Virginia Commission Should Have Considered Employment-Related Risks of Assault Virginia Commission Should Have Considered Employment-Related Risks of AssaultDueling Statutes: Which State’s Subrogation Law Should Apply? Variables within America’s mobile economy often produce complex choice of law issues, particularly when it comes to employer/insurer subrogation interests. For example,...
Arizona High Court Says Nebraska Law Prevents Absolute Assignment of Injured Worker’s Third-Party Claim Arizona High Court Says Nebraska Law Prevents Absolute Assignment of Injured Worker’s Third-Party Claim
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