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Mar 12, 2026

Virginia Court Counts Subcontractor Workers in Coverage Threshold Case

Small contractors sometimes believe that keeping their payroll lean — two employees instead of three — will keep them outside the reach of the workers’ compensation statute. But the Virginia...

Virginia Court Counts Subcontractor Workers in Coverage Threshold Case Virginia Court Counts Subcontractor Workers in Coverage Threshold Case
Mar 10, 2026

Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act

In Garcia v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 6549 (2d Cir. Mar. 5, 2026), the Second Circuit denied a petition for review filed by a...

Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act Second Circuit Bars Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Under the Longshore Act
Mar 6, 2026

New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits

Every dollar spent on workers’ compensation falls into one of two broad categories: benefits paid to injured workers—medical care and wage replacement—and the costs of delivering those benefits. The second...

New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits New York’s Hidden Cost Problem: WCRI Examines the Price of Delivering Benefits
Mar 5, 2026

Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage

In Motors v. Bayly (Red House Motors d/b/a Bayly’s Garage), 2026 Del. LEXIS 92 (Mar. 2, 2026), the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Superior Court decision that the high court...

Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage Delaware Supreme Court Reinstates IAB’s Denial of Sole Proprietor Coverage

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Feb 10, 2017

Like Oil & Water, Oxycodone and Xanax Don’t Mix

Nebraska Worker’s Death From Apparent Suicide is Not Compensable In a case that is heartbreaking from multiple points of view, the family of an injured Nebraska employee was denied workers’...

Like Oil & Water, Oxycodone and Xanax Don’t Mix Like Oil & Water, Oxycodone and Xanax Don’t Mix
Jan 26, 2017

NCCI May Not Impose Bankrupt Staffing Company’s Experience Rating on Purchaser in Court-Approved Sale of Assets

A debtor’s workers’ compensation experience rating is the sort of “interest” of which the debtor’s assets can be sold free and clear, under § 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code,...

NCCI May Not Impose Bankrupt Staffing Company’s Experience Rating on Purchaser in Court-Approved Sale of Assets NCCI May Not Impose Bankrupt Staffing Company’s Experience Rating on Purchaser in Court-Approved Sale of Assets
Jan 20, 2017

National Conference Session Points to Increase Use of Telemedicine for Injured Workers

In the past few years, a great deal of appropriate attention has been spent pondering various ways in which access to medical care could be improved for injured workers. Various...

National Conference Session Points to Increase Use of Telemedicine for Injured Workers National Conference Session Points to Increase Use of Telemedicine for Injured Workers
Jan 19, 2017

Lousiana Court Sustains Worker’s West Nile Virus Claim as Accidental Injury

A Louisiana appellate court affirmed, in relevant part, a ruling by a state workers’ compensation judge that a worker sustained an accidental injury arising out of and in the course...

Lousiana Court Sustains Worker’s West Nile Virus Claim as Accidental Injury Lousiana Court Sustains Worker’s West Nile Virus Claim as Accidental Injury
Jan 16, 2017

Book Review: Does Pop Culture’s PTSD Discussion Give You Combat Fatigue?

Martin Klug’s New Book Provides Important Insight During a famous incident that occurred in Sicily during August 1943, General George S. Patton, in two separate incidents, slapped U.S. Army privates...

Book Review: Does Pop Culture’s PTSD Discussion Give You Combat Fatigue? Book Review: Does Pop Culture’s PTSD Discussion Give You Combat Fatigue?
Jan 12, 2017

Memo to Worker’ Comp Carrier: Standing on Your Rights Can Result in Scorched Feet

Tennessee Appeals Panel Affirms $27K Attorney’s Fee Related to $187 Medical Claim In Grissom v. UPS, 2017 Tenn. LEXIS 4 (Jan. 9, 2017), the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the...

Memo to Worker’ Comp Carrier: Standing on Your Rights Can Result in Scorched Feet Memo to Worker’ Comp Carrier: Standing on Your Rights Can Result in Scorched Feet
Jan 6, 2017

“Star” Opera Singer is not Employee of the Metropolitan Opera House

A New York appellate court has agreed with Wendy White, prominent opera singer at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center (“the Met”), that White is not an employee and,...

“Star” Opera Singer is not Employee of the Metropolitan Opera House “Star” Opera Singer is not Employee of the Metropolitan Opera House
Jan 5, 2017

Ohio Decision Illustrates Conflict Between OSHA’s New Anti-Retaliation Rule and Drug-Free Workplace Policies

As most of us are aware, OSHA’s final rule regarding, inter alia, anti-retaliation protections within the workplace was published May 12, 2016. Technically effective on August 10, 2016, OSHA delayed...

Ohio Decision Illustrates Conflict Between OSHA’s New Anti-Retaliation Rule and Drug-Free Workplace Policies Ohio Decision Illustrates Conflict Between OSHA’s New Anti-Retaliation Rule and Drug-Free Workplace Policies
Dec 31, 2016

The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2016

© Copyright 2016. Thomas A. Robinson. All rights reserved. For reprint permission, contact tom@workcompwriter.com. For the past ten Decembers or so, I have annually compiled what I think are the...

The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2016 The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2016
Dec 27, 2016

Nebraska County Courts Lack Jurisdiction to Determine Comp Insurer’s Subrogation Interest

A Nebraska county court lacked subject matter jurisdiction when it conducted a subrogation hearing to determine a workers’ compensation insurer’s interest in a wrongful death settlement that had been reached...

Nebraska County Courts Lack Jurisdiction to Determine Comp Insurer’s Subrogation Interest Nebraska County Courts Lack Jurisdiction to Determine Comp Insurer’s Subrogation Interest
Dec 22, 2016

Arkansas Estate’s Wrongful Death/Mesothelioma Case Barred by “Catch–22”

In a deeply divided decision, the Supreme Court of Arkansas recently held that a wrongful death action filed against a deceased worker’s employer was barred by the exclusive remedy provisions...

Arkansas Estate’s Wrongful Death/Mesothelioma Case Barred by “Catch–22” Arkansas Estate’s Wrongful Death/Mesothelioma Case Barred by “Catch–22”
Dec 16, 2016

Shall We Dance—New Book Describes Complex, Psychological Tango Between Physician and Patient Over Opioid Prescriptions

Jane and I are seven days into a 10-day cruise to (and from) the Panama Canal. I’m gloating, of course. While even our native Durham, North Carolina, is currently shivering,...

Shall We Dance—New Book Describes Complex, Psychological Tango Between Physician and Patient Over Opioid Prescriptions Shall We Dance—New Book Describes Complex, Psychological Tango Between Physician and Patient Over Opioid Prescriptions

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