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Jun 5, 2026

Iowa Supreme Court: Employer Not Bound by Opinion of Its Own Treating Physician

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 Physician
Jun 2, 2026

Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity

Court 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 Immunity
Jun 1, 2026

NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions

New 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 Decisions
May 27, 2026

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment

In 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 Treatment

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Apr 19, 2018

NC Court Approves Medical Claim for Non-FDA-Approved Compound Cream

A North Carolina appellate court recently held that non-FDA-approved drugs could not be categorically excluded from medical compensation under the state’s workers’ compensation system [Davis v. Craven County ABC Bd.,...

NC Court Approves Medical Claim for Non-FDA-Approved Compound Cream NC Court Approves Medical Claim for Non-FDA-Approved Compound Cream
Apr 18, 2018

PA Court Nixes Chiropractor’s Separate Charges for “Office Visits” in Connection with Treatments

A Pennsylvania appellate court has concluded that an examination involving no new medical condition, change in medical condition, or other circumstances that require an examination and assessment above and beyond...

PA Court Nixes Chiropractor’s Separate Charges for “Office Visits” in Connection with Treatments PA Court Nixes Chiropractor’s Separate Charges for “Office Visits” in Connection with Treatments
Apr 12, 2018

No Recovery For Swooning Virginia EMT

Repeat After Me: “Correlation Doesn’t Mean Causation” The Virginia Court of Appeals recently reversed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to an emergency room paramedic who fainted, sustaining a skull...

No Recovery For Swooning Virginia EMT No Recovery For Swooning Virginia EMT
Apr 3, 2018

20 Shades of Gray: NY Court Construes “Risks of Street Travel” Rule

Where a New York office worker sustained injuries when she tripped and fell while walking on a public sidewalk approximately 20 feet from the door to the building that contained...

20 Shades of Gray: NY Court Construes “Risks of Street Travel” Rule 20 Shades of Gray: NY Court Construes “Risks of Street Travel” Rule
Mar 30, 2018

Commentary: How Equitable is Florida’s New PTSD Coverage?

What Does Florida Have Against Teachers and Bartenders? As I posted Monday [click here to view that post], a bill to extend relatively broad PTSD coverage to Florida’s first responders...

Commentary: How Equitable is Florida’s New PTSD Coverage? Commentary: How Equitable is Florida’s New PTSD Coverage?
Mar 26, 2018

Florida Legislature Approves PTSD Coverage for First Responders

Earlier this month, the Florida Senate and House both unanimously passed Senate Bill 376, so as generally to allow workers’ compensation benefits for first responders who suffer PTSD as a...

Florida Legislature Approves PTSD Coverage for First Responders Florida Legislature Approves PTSD Coverage for First Responders
Mar 16, 2018

Oklahoma Supreme Court: Parent Corporation Not Always Shielded by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine

Certified Question From Tenth Circuit re: “Dual-Capacity” A divided Supreme Court of Oklahoma, responding to a question certified to it by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, has held the...

Oklahoma Supreme Court: Parent Corporation Not Always Shielded by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine Oklahoma Supreme Court: Parent Corporation Not Always Shielded by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine
Mar 2, 2018

Greetings From Nashville

ABA Workers’ Compensation Midwinter Conference is Ongoing in “Music City” Heavy rain greeted attendees yesterday at this year’s ABA Workers’ Compensation Midwinter Conference in Nashville, but inside the Westin Nashville...

Greetings From Nashville Greetings From Nashville
Feb 27, 2018

WCRI’s Upcoming Annual Conference Looks Like a Winner

Speakers Include Former Head of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics The 34th Annual Issues and Research Conference, sponsored by Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), promises to be an outstanding forum...

WCRI’s Upcoming Annual Conference Looks Like a Winner WCRI’s Upcoming Annual Conference Looks Like a Winner
Feb 18, 2018

California Grubhub Driver is Independent Contractor, Not Employee

From Comp Standpoint: Are Uber, Lyft & Grubhub Truly “Disruptive?” Lamenting that in California, a worker’s status as an employee, vis-a-vis an independent contractor, is an “all-or-nothing proposition,” a U.S....

California Grubhub Driver is Independent Contractor, Not Employee California Grubhub Driver is Independent Contractor, Not Employee
Feb 9, 2018

The Road Less Traveled: Wisconsin Court of Appeals Shuns Majority Rule Re: Borrowing Employer’s Tort Immunity

Temporary Employee Has Option of Claiming Benefits or Suing in Tort Based, at least in part, on the court’s so-called “literal” reading of a Wisconsin statute [Wis. Stat. § 102.29(6)(b)1.], the...

The Road Less Traveled: Wisconsin Court of Appeals Shuns Majority Rule Re: Borrowing Employer’s Tort Immunity The Road Less Traveled: Wisconsin Court of Appeals Shuns Majority Rule Re: Borrowing Employer’s Tort Immunity
Feb 2, 2018

Is the Wall Strong Enough?

Recent Air Ambulance Decisions Hint that McCarran-Ferguson Insurance Barrier to Federal Involvement in Workers’ Comp May Be Decaying Two recent court decisions, one from Texas [PHI Air Med., LLC v....

Is the Wall Strong Enough? Is the Wall Strong Enough?

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