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 TreatmentDuring September of each of the past five years, my colleague, Robin Kobayashi, and I have pulled together a volume entitled, Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis. Annually published by LexisNexis®,...
2017’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Cases 2017’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation CasesIn a case that highlights some of the bitter infighting going on in Illinois regarding the state’s workers’ compensation system, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of...
Seventh Circuit Sustains Illinois Governor’s Action in Refusing to Reappoint Arbitrators Seventh Circuit Sustains Illinois Governor’s Action in Refusing to Reappoint ArbitratorsSaves Hospital $600,000 in Lost Reimbursement Stressing that a rule or regulation adopted by an administrative agency can only be given binding legal effect if the agency complies with the...
Kansas Court Strikes Words “Accidentally” Introduced into Medical Fee Schedule Kansas Court Strikes Words “Accidentally” Introduced into Medical Fee ScheduleWhat if Employers Are Willing to Give Up Exclusive Remedy Defense? In his typically lucid and engaging style, Bob Wilson mused in his post this morning that the employer opt...
Bob Wilson May Have a “Cluttered Desk;” His Prediction of Opt Out Reprise is Spot On! Bob Wilson May Have a “Cluttered Desk;” His Prediction of Opt Out Reprise is Spot On!In a case of first impression, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a U.S. District Court decision that had dismissed a widow’s civil action seeking a declaration that N.D....
Eighth Circuit: North Dakota Need Not Substitute Colorado’s More Generous Death Benefits Rules for Claim Filed in the Peace Garden State Eighth Circuit: North Dakota Need Not Substitute Colorado’s More Generous Death Benefits Rules for Claim Filed in the Peace Garden StateA Florida appellate court held that misrepresentations regarding a claimant’s medical history can disqualify the claimant from receiving benefits even if there is no direct link between the allegedly false...
Florida MDs Have No Duty to “Cross-Examine” Workers’ Comp Claimant Regarding Known Misrepresentations Florida MDs Have No Duty to “Cross-Examine” Workers’ Comp Claimant Regarding Known MisrepresentationsYesterday, in a divided decision, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi reversed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission (“Commission”) that had denied an employee’s workers’ compensation claim because...
Mississippi Commission’s Decision to Deny Claim Because of Employee’s “Refusal” to Take Breathalyzer Test Cannot Stand Mississippi Commission’s Decision to Deny Claim Because of Employee’s “Refusal” to Take Breathalyzer Test Cannot StandHighlighting the fine line that exists, on the one hand, between a party’s attempt to relitigate an issue already decided and, on the other hand, a party’s contention that a...
Maine High Court Blocks Employer’s Attempt to Challenge Continued Existence of Disability Maine High Court Blocks Employer’s Attempt to Challenge Continued Existence of DisabilityThe Missouri Court of Appeals recently affirmed a decision of that state’s Labor and Industrial Relations Commission that had denied workers’ compensation benefits to a tire shop employee who sustained...
Missouri Court Stresses Importance of Injury “by Accident” in Recent Horseplay Case Missouri Court Stresses Importance of Injury “by Accident” in Recent Horseplay CaseAlthough crash data indicated not only that a Mississippi patrol officer increased his speed steadlily from 53 mph to more than 90 mph in the twelve seconds prior to an...
Mississippi Officer’s High Speed Driving, Without Seatbelt, Did Not Amount to Willful Intent To Injure Himself Mississippi Officer’s High Speed Driving, Without Seatbelt, Did Not Amount to Willful Intent To Injure HimselfLast Thursday, in a split decision, the Supreme Court of Louisiana held that the choice of pharmacy in a workers’ compensation case belongs to the employer, and not the employee...
Louisiana High Court Says Employer—Not Injured Employee—Has Right to Choose Pharmacy Louisiana High Court Says Employer—Not Injured Employee—Has Right to Choose PharmacyIn a divided decision, the Supreme Court of Minnesota held that an injured undocumented worker had raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether an employer had discharged...
Rock and a Hard Place: Placing Injured Undocumented Worker on Unpaid Leave May Be Retaliatory Discharge Rock and a Hard Place: Placing Injured Undocumented Worker on Unpaid Leave May Be Retaliatory Discharge
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