Driscoll Agrees with the Larson Standard, Then Affirms Without Needing It The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to a city employee who developed...
Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another Day Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another DayDriscoll Agrees with the Larson Standard, Then Affirms Without Needing It The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to a city employee who developed...
Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another Day Issue Commentary: Iowa Looks at Vaccine‑Injury Compensability—and Leaves the Real Question for Another DayIn *Sairafianpour v. Loudoun County Public Schools*, 2026 Va. App. LEXIS 430 (Aug. 11, 2026), the Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Commission decision awarding medical benefits...
VA: One Basket, Two Injuries—and Only One Compensable Accident VA: One Basket, Two Injuries—and Only One Compensable AccidentIn Granite School District v. Young, 2026 UT 29, 2026 Utah LEXIS 113 (Aug. 13, 2026), the Utah Supreme Court affirmed an award of permanent total disability benefits to a...
UT Supreme Court Affirms PTD Award—and Rejects Employer’s Claim to Employee’s Debt-Collection Settlement UT Supreme Court Affirms PTD Award—and Rejects Employer’s Claim to Employee’s Debt-Collection SettlementCertified 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 DoctrineABA 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 NashvilleSpeakers 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 WinnerFrom 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 EmployeeTemporary 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 ImmunityRecent 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?Employer-Controlled Medical Care Drives Claimants to Attorneys, Erasing Savings in Medical Costs A common mantra from the employer-carrier side of the workers’ compensation world goes something like this, “If you...
New Study Says Employer-Directed Choice of MD May Actually Increase Overall Claim Costs New Study Says Employer-Directed Choice of MD May Actually Increase Overall Claim CostsAnnual “Bizarre” List Began 30 Years Ago Continuing a New Year’s tradition that informally began 30 years ago, when my mentor, Dr. Arthur Larson, original author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation...
The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2017 The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2017A worker, who sustained severe injuries, including a left-hand amputation and major depressive disorder, while performing routine maintenance on the employer’s conveyor belt system, is not entitled to additional compensation...
Ohio Commission Erred in Assessing Penalties Against Employer for Safety Violations Ohio Commission Erred in Assessing Penalties Against Employer for Safety ViolationsIn what some may view as insult added to injury, an unemployed New Jersey firefighter, who sustained significant injuries to her leg when she slipped and fell on ice as...
Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Denied TD Benefits Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Denied TD BenefitsYesterday, in an eagerly awaited decision, Vitale v. Schering-Plough Corp., Case No. A-20-16 (Dec. 11, 2017), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that a disclaimer in an employment agreement...
NJ High Court Strikes Down Employment Contract Clauses Waiving Third-Party Claims NJ High Court Strikes Down Employment Contract Clauses Waiving Third-Party ClaimsVirginia Employer Need Not Provide Specialized “Running Blade” Prosthesis While all but a few American jurisdictions require employers to provide medical benefits that are essentially unlimited in terms of duration...
Medical Benefits Must be “Reasonable and Necessary”—Not Just Beneficial Medical Benefits Must be “Reasonable and Necessary”—Not Just Beneficial
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