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Jan 6, 2025

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim

In Collins v. Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART), 2024 Iowa App. LEXIS 918 (Dec. 18, 2024), the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed denial of workers’ compensation benefits to...

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim
Jan 6, 2025

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence

In Spisa-Kline v. Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, 2024 Neb. App. LEXIS 750 (Dec. 31, 2024), the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the employer in a workers’ compensation...

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence
Dec 31, 2024

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits

Appeals Court Examines Going and Coming Rule The Oregon Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded a Workers’ Compensation Board decision that had denied benefits to a worker injured while...

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits
Dec 30, 2024

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

Insurer Had No Duty to Defend Intentional Tort Claim Against Co-Employee In Ortez v. Penn Nat’l Sec. Ins. Co., 2024 N.C. App. LEXIS 1017 (Dec. 17, 2024), the North Carolina...

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

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Jun 9, 2015

Arkansas Truck Driver’s Fatal Injuries Sustained While Crossing Street After Break Are Compensable

An Arkansas tanker-truck driver sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of the employment when he was struck by a vehicle as the truck driver exited a...

Arkansas Truck Driver’s Fatal Injuries Sustained While Crossing Street After Break Are Compensable

Arkansas Truck Driver’s Fatal Injuries Sustained While Crossing Street After Break Are Compensable

Jun 8, 2015

South Dakota: Horseplay Injury During Lull In Workday Found Compensable

Applying the four Larson factors to determine whether an act of horseplay was or was not a substantial deviation from the employment [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 23.01], the...

South Dakota: Horseplay Injury During Lull In Workday Found Compensable South Dakota: Horseplay Injury During Lull In Workday Found Compensable
Jun 5, 2015

Florida Court Says Judge Should Have Disqualified Himself For Bias

In Kline v. JRD Management Corp., 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 8364 (1st DCA, June 2, 2015), a Florida appellate court recently held that a judge of compensation claims (“JCC”) erred...

Florida Court Says Judge Should Have Disqualified Himself For Bias Florida Court Says Judge Should Have Disqualified Himself For Bias
May 29, 2015

California Court: Leasing Employers and Temporary Service Employers May Not Self-Insure

Earlier this month, a California appellate court struck down a challenge by two staffing companies that had sued the state, alleging that Cal. Lab. Code § 3701.9, added in 2012...

California Court: Leasing Employers and Temporary Service Employers May Not Self-Insure California Court: Leasing Employers and Temporary Service Employers May Not Self-Insure
May 18, 2015

Kansas Court Extends Firefighter’s Rule to Bar Tort Recovery by Law Enforcement Officer

Ordinarily, workers are free to pursue civil actions against third parties whose negligence causes work-related injuries. One exception, however, is the so-called “firefighter’s rule,” adopted in a number of states,...

Kansas Court Extends Firefighter’s Rule to Bar Tort Recovery by Law Enforcement Officer Kansas Court Extends Firefighter’s Rule to Bar Tort Recovery by Law Enforcement Officer
May 12, 2015

Nevada Work Release Inmate’s Injuries Are Responsibility of Employer, Not State

Nevada, like a number of other states, provides workers’ compensation benefits for inmates who sustain injuries “while engaged in work in a prison industry or work program,” whether the program...

Nevada Work Release Inmate’s Injuries Are Responsibility of Employer, Not State Nevada Work Release Inmate’s Injuries Are Responsibility of Employer, Not State
May 8, 2015

Kentucky Truck Driver’s Tort Action Against Wal-Mart Barred by Statutory Employer Rules

A truck driver, who alleged that he sustained injuries while delivering merchandise to a Wal-Mart store in Kentucky cannot proceed in his civil action against the large retailer since, under...

Kentucky Truck Driver’s Tort Action Against Wal-Mart Barred by Statutory Employer Rules Kentucky Truck Driver’s Tort Action Against Wal-Mart Barred by Statutory Employer Rules
May 5, 2015

South Carolina Bill Would Make Workers’ Comp Coverage Optional for Most Employers

A bill introduced in the South Carolina Senate on April 16th (2015 Bill Text SC S.B. 674) would make workers’ compensation coverage optional for the vast majority of the state’s...

South Carolina Bill Would Make Workers’ Comp Coverage Optional for Most Employers South Carolina Bill Would Make Workers’ Comp Coverage Optional for Most Employers
May 1, 2015

NY Claimant Fails to Show That Claim Filing Was Delayed by Hurricane Sandy

An employee’s inability to file a timely notice of claim based on his alleged inability to meet with counsel because of the onslaught and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy was an...

NY Claimant Fails to Show That Claim Filing Was Delayed by Hurricane Sandy NY Claimant Fails to Show That Claim Filing Was Delayed by Hurricane Sandy
Apr 29, 2015

Oklahoma High Court Refuses to Fast-Track Case Challenging Constitutionality of Workers’ Compensation Opt Out Law

Yesterday (April 28, 2015), the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, in a 7–2 vote, declined to assume original jurisdiction in a civil action challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new and...

Oklahoma High Court Refuses to Fast-Track Case Challenging Constitutionality of Workers’ Compensation Opt Out Law Oklahoma High Court Refuses to Fast-Track Case Challenging Constitutionality of Workers’ Compensation Opt Out Law
Apr 28, 2015

Arkansas Court Approves Award of Additional Medical Expenses Related to ER Visit Six Months After Initial Injury

An Arkansas appellate court affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that an employee was entitled to additional medical benefits when, some six months after an ankle injury,...

Arkansas Court Approves Award of Additional Medical Expenses Related to ER Visit Six Months After Initial Injury Arkansas Court Approves Award of Additional Medical Expenses Related to ER Visit Six Months After Initial Injury
Apr 20, 2015

Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves?

Recent Federal District Court Discusses ERISA’s Strong Preemption Provisions As I have noted on multiple other occasions, one of the distinctive features of the workers’ compensation “opt out” scheme is...

Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves? Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves?

New Comments

  • trob: Excellent question. My thought is that the employer was following what it assumed was the typical practice of seeking to protect its "subrogation" interest in state court; in virtually all jurisdictions, the state trial courts are where subrogation issues are litigated. What differed here, of course, was that it wasn't a standard subrogation case, i.e., the employee's work-related injury wasn't ca...
  • ramivou: Why didn't they file it with the state Commission instead?
  • Thomas A. Robinson: I suspect that ACME could seek contractual indemnity, as you note, either from the staffing agency or its carrier. The goal of the Board or agency generally is to see to the proper award of benefits for compensable injuries. Allowing the "aggrieved" parties to sort it out later is completely consistent with the overall theory of workers' compensation. Many thanks for the comment. Best wishes.
  • Barry Stinson: I wonder if Acme's insurer could seek contractural indemnity from Variety's insurer outside of the WC system.
  • Michael C. Duff: The conceptual distinction is between joint causation and presumptive single causation.
  • Thomas A. Robinson: Sorry, I don't/can't provide legal advice. Best wishes, however.
  • Ken Smith: What can I do when my attorney blows my case with an incomplete RB89
  • Thomas A. Robinson: Good point, although the interesting thing about the case--at least to me--is that it discusses the important "injury by accident" issue. That issue, present in at least a plurality of state acts, is largely ignored by Commissions, Boards, and Courts these days. Here, also, the case was so fact-specific that even it had been issued as published, it would be factually distinguishable from many othe...
  • kathlyn gorman: It should have been noted in your discussion that this is an unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Thus, it does not constitute controlling legal authority.
  • Thomas A. Robinson: You're correct. Ordinarily, I can depend upon Alabama to provide me with at least one case for "the List." I'll bet 2022 will unearth something bizarre from the Great State of Alabama. Take care.