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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

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May 15, 2018

Alaska’s High Court Upholds Total Bar of Recovery for Non-Dependent Parents of Deceased Employees

Parent Faces “Catch-22”: Wrongful Death Claim Barred by Exclusivity, Yet No Workers’ Comp Benefits Available The Supreme Court of Alaska, in Burke v. Raven Elec., 2018 Alas. LEXIS 64 (May...

Alaska’s High Court Upholds Total Bar of Recovery for Non-Dependent Parents of Deceased Employees Alaska’s High Court Upholds Total Bar of Recovery for Non-Dependent Parents of Deceased Employees
May 14, 2018

Divided OK Supreme Court Reverses Denial of Claim Involving Travel to Work Site

In a divided decision, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma reversed a lower court’s finding and held that a pipeline installation worker’s injuries sustained in a vehicular accident while traveling to...

Divided OK Supreme Court Reverses Denial of Claim Involving Travel to Work Site Divided OK Supreme Court Reverses Denial of Claim Involving Travel to Work Site
May 11, 2018

Montana: Both Parties to Employee Leasing Arrangement Enjoy Exclusive Remedy of State’s Workers’ Compensation Act

Constitutional Provision Protecting Only “Immediate” Employers Does Not Limit Immunity In a decision that has important implications for Montana firms that utilize professional employer organizations (“PEOs”) for their labor forces,...

Montana: Both Parties to Employee Leasing Arrangement Enjoy Exclusive Remedy of State’s Workers’ Compensation Act Montana: Both Parties to Employee Leasing Arrangement Enjoy Exclusive Remedy of State’s Workers’ Compensation Act
May 2, 2018

California High Court Narrows Rule For Classification of Workers as Independent Contractors

CA Employers: Stock Up on Your W-2s; Recycle Your 1099s In a decision that continues California’s trend toward allowing the designation of a worker as an independent contractor only under...

California High Court Narrows Rule For Classification of Workers as Independent Contractors California High Court Narrows Rule For Classification of Workers as Independent Contractors
Apr 30, 2018

Ohio Auto Insurers: Beware of Nascent Workers Comp Claims

High Court Says BWC Has Subrogation Interest in Spite of Denial of Claim In a decision that should impact settlement procedures in virtually all personal injury cases within the state...

Ohio Auto Insurers: Beware of Nascent Workers Comp Claims Ohio Auto Insurers: Beware of Nascent Workers Comp Claims
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

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