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 Treatment“White Coat” Syndrome Could Explain Isolated Reading As do a number of states, Florida provides a specialized presumption of compensability favoring certain law enforcement officers [see § 112.18(1), Fla. Stat.]....
Florida: Abnormal Pre-Employment BP Reading Does Not Mean Loss of Presumption of Compensability Florida: Abnormal Pre-Employment BP Reading Does Not Mean Loss of Presumption of CompensabilityWhere an injured employee’s medical history and medications raised a fact issue about the possible role of risks personal to the employee in an otherwise unexplained fall, the employee was...
Ohio Claimant Has Burden of Showing Unexplained Fall Was Not Caused by Idiopathic Condition Ohio Claimant Has Burden of Showing Unexplained Fall Was Not Caused by Idiopathic ConditionWithin the context of a Georgia workers’ compensation claim, a meretricious relationship works to deny dependency benefits, even if actual dependency exists, held a state appellate court on Tuesday [see...
In Georgia, Co-Habitation Without Marriage = No Death Benefits In Georgia, Co-Habitation Without Marriage = No Death BenefitsIn a case with bizarre underlying facts, a New York appellate court held a trial court erred in denying an employer’s summary judgment motion in a tort action filed against...
Employer and Co-Employees Not Liable in Tort Following Holiday Party Fatality Employer and Co-Employees Not Liable in Tort Following Holiday Party FatalityWhere a long-haul truck driver kept one of his employer’s tractor-trailer units at his home because he lived near an interstate highway and the employer’s facility was one hour away...
Kentucky Driver Who Keeps Tractor-Trailer Rig at Home is Traveling Employee Kentucky Driver Who Keeps Tractor-Trailer Rig at Home is Traveling EmployeeApportionment Allowed for Prior Nonwork-Related Knee Injury A New York appellate court affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that apportioned a claimant’s 30 percent right leg schedule...
NY Employer Does Not Always Take Employee as it Finds Him NY Employer Does Not Always Take Employee as it Finds HimThe phrase is used quite often, even by attorneys: “He [or she] was hurt ‘on-the-job.’” The typical implication is that a worker who sustains an “on-the-job” injury deserves workers’ compensation...
Virginia Case Shows “On-the-Job” Injuries May Not be Compensable Virginia Case Shows “On-the-Job” Injuries May Not be CompensableA person in the status of a traveling employee is continuously within the course and scope of the employment while traveling, except when the person is engaged in a distinct...
Oregon: Traveling Employee’s Death While Returning From Shopping Trip Was Not Compensable Oregon: Traveling Employee’s Death While Returning From Shopping Trip Was Not CompensableIn Haller v. Champlain College, 2017 VT 86, 2017 Vt. LEXIS 107 (Sept. 29, 2017), a divided Supreme Court of Vermont affirmed a determination by the Commissioner of the state’s Department...
Vermont College’s “Tuition Benefit” Should Be Used in Average Weekly Wage Computation Vermont College’s “Tuition Benefit” Should Be Used in Average Weekly Wage ComputationYesterday (Oct. 3, 2017), in a divided decision, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma struck down Okla. Stat. tit. 85A, § 57 of the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act (AWCA), which disqualifies...
Another One Bites the Dust: Oklahoma Supreme Court Kills Provision of State’s Workers’ Comp Act Another One Bites the Dust: Oklahoma Supreme Court Kills Provision of State’s Workers’ Comp ActYesterday (October 2, 2017), a cadre of 29 Pennsylvania legislators introduced a bill—House Bill 1840—that would require physicians to apply the methodology set forth in “the sixth edition” of the...
PA Legislative Bill Would Require Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides PA Legislative Bill Would Require Use of 6th Edition of AMA GuidesIn Young v. Station 27, Inc., 2017 OK 68, 2017 Okla. LEXIS 69 (Sept. 12, 2017), the Supreme Court of Oklahoma finessed the constitutionality of the state’s current retaliatory discharge...
Oklahoma High Court Finesses Constitutional Issue as to Retaliatory Discharge Statute Oklahoma High Court Finesses Constitutional Issue as to Retaliatory Discharge Statute
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