Newest Articles

Jul 16, 2026

Personal Comfort Doctrine Reaches a Formal, Unpaid Break

PA 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 Break
Jul 14, 2026

Trucker’s Retaliation Claim Runs Aground in His Own Hay Field

Idaho 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 Field
Jul 13, 2026

FL High Court Rejects Motive Requirement for Workplace Assault Claims

Risk-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 Claims
Jul 8, 2026

KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths

Supervisors Who Allegedly Blocked Exits Fell Outside the Workers’ Comp Act’s Exclusive Remedy The Kentucky Court of Appeals has revived tort claims brought by survivors of the December 2021 tornado...

KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths KY Court Revives Tort Claims From Mayfield Candle Factory Tornado Deaths

All Articles

ARCHIVE
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
Oct 24, 2025

Delaware Court Reverses Board Decision That Improperly Weighed Medical Opinion on Psychological Disability

The Delaware Superior Court reversed an Industrial Accident Board decision that denied recurrence benefits for psychological impairment, holding that the Board’s reliance on an orthopedic surgeon’s observations about psychological disorders—while...

Delaware Court Reverses Board Decision That Improperly Weighed Medical Opinion on Psychological Disability Delaware Court Reverses Board Decision That Improperly Weighed Medical Opinion on Psychological Disability
Oct 23, 2025

New Physician Panel Ordered after Doctor Terminates Care

In a recent decision, the Tennessee Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel affirmed an order requiring the employer to provide a new panel of physicians even though the employee had previously...

New Physician Panel Ordered after Doctor Terminates Care New Physician Panel Ordered after Doctor Terminates Care
Oct 21, 2025

NC Supreme Court: COVID-19 Emergency Act Does Not Support Immediate Appeal

In Land v. Whitley, 2025 N.C. LEXIS 868 (N.C. Oct. 17, 2025), the North Carolina Supreme Court held that a trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss based on...

NC Supreme Court: COVID-19 Emergency Act Does Not Support Immediate Appeal NC Supreme Court: COVID-19 Emergency Act Does Not Support Immediate Appeal
Oct 15, 2025

Virginia Court Affirms Retroactive Correction of Mistaken AWW

In Pittsylvania County School Board v. Hite, 2025 Va. App. LEXIS 607 (Va. Ct. App. Oct. 7, 2025), the Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s authority to...

Virginia Court Affirms Retroactive Correction of Mistaken AWW Virginia Court Affirms Retroactive Correction of Mistaken AWW
Oct 14, 2025

IL Tort Action Against Employer Following Psychotic Attack by Coworker is Barred

In a divided decision, the Illinois Third District Appellate Court, affirming summary judgment by a state trial court, held that an employee’s civil action against his employer for injuries sustained...

IL Tort Action Against Employer Following Psychotic Attack by Coworker is Barred IL Tort Action Against Employer Following Psychotic Attack by Coworker is Barred
Oct 13, 2025

NY Court Affirms: Surveillance Showing Activity on “Good Days” Insufficient to Prove Fraud

In Matter of Harmon v. Faxton Sunset St. Luke’s Health Care Ctr. Inc., 2025 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5692 (3d Dept. Oct. 9, 2025), New York’s Appellate Division (Third Department)...

NY Court Affirms: Surveillance Showing Activity on “Good Days” Insufficient to Prove Fraud NY Court Affirms: Surveillance Showing Activity on “Good Days” Insufficient to Prove Fraud
Oct 9, 2025

Cannabis-Derived Medications for Chronic Back Pain: Implications for Workers’ Compensation

Recent clinical trials have demonstrated that cannabis-derived medications may be safer and more effective than opioids for treating chronic lower back pain—a finding with significant implications for workers’ compensation systems...

Cannabis-Derived Medications for Chronic Back Pain: Implications for Workers’ Compensation Cannabis-Derived Medications for Chronic Back Pain: Implications for Workers’ Compensation
Oct 8, 2025

NC Court Rejects Assumption of Risk Defense in Pepper-Spray Training Case

251008 NC Court Rejects Assumption of Risk Defense in Pepper-Spray Training Case The North Carolina Court of Appeals has rejected an employer’s argument that a nurse’s voluntary participation in pepper-spray...

NC Court Rejects Assumption of Risk Defense in Pepper-Spray Training Case NC Court Rejects Assumption of Risk Defense in Pepper-Spray Training Case
Oct 7, 2025

MS Court: Staffing Agency Worker Was School District’s “Borrowed Employee”

The Mississippi Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment favoring a school district, holding that a cafeteria worker placed at an elementary school by a staffing agency was the district’s...

MS Court: Staffing Agency Worker Was School District’s “Borrowed Employee” MS Court: Staffing Agency Worker Was School District’s “Borrowed Employee”
Oct 3, 2025

IL: $5.8 Million Judgment Affirmed in Busboy’s Fatal Anaphylactic Shock Case

An Illinois appellate court has affirmed a nearly $5.8 million judgment in a negligence action filed by the widow of a restaurant employee who died from anaphylactic shock after eating...

IL: $5.8 Million Judgment Affirmed in Busboy’s Fatal Anaphylactic Shock Case IL: $5.8 Million Judgment Affirmed in Busboy’s Fatal Anaphylactic Shock Case
Sep 30, 2025

OR High Court: Worker Entitled to Medical Examination When Insurer Uses IME to Defend Denial

In Teitelman v. SAIF Corp. (In re Compensation of Cardoza), 2025 Ore. LEXIS 626 (Sept. 25, 2025), the Oregon Supreme Court held that injured workers are entitled to request their...

OR High Court: Worker Entitled to Medical Examination When Insurer Uses IME to Defend Denial OR High Court: Worker Entitled to Medical Examination When Insurer Uses IME to Defend Denial
Sep 29, 2025

First Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Puerto Rico Retaliation Case

In Mercado v. Hyannis Air Service, Inc., 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 24455 (1st Cir. Sept. 22, 2025), the First Circuit vacated a district court’s grant of summary judgment in a...

First Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Puerto Rico Retaliation Case First Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Puerto Rico Retaliation Case

New Comments

  • ramivou: They hid behind a flawed "reading" of this statute for a decade. I am glad the SC finally put an end to the misconception that it was a "first six months only" filing requirement, rather than an ongoing responsibility.
  • trob: Thanks for the query. New York's going and coming doctrine is similar to that in place in the majority of jurisdictions. That is to say that for employees with a fixed place of work and who are on a relatively consistent work schedule, the commute to and from the residence is outside the course and scope of the employment. Often overlooked is the fact that the employee must generally have a fixed ...
  • ramivou: Is coming and going covered in NY?
  • 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