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 CaseIn 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 ActEvery 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 BenefitsIn 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 CoverageThe Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel recently affirmed a decision by a state trial court awarding an X-ray technician permanent and total disability benefits because of...
Tennessee Court Awards Permanent Total Benefits For Worker’s Migraines Tennessee Court Awards Permanent Total Benefits For Worker’s MigrainesConnecticut, like a host of other states, has a special presumption that aids police officers (and some other first responders) who pass a physical exam at the time of hiring...
Connecticut Police Officer’s Failure to File Timely Hypertension Claim No Bar to Subsequent Claim Related to Myocardial Infarction Connecticut Police Officer’s Failure to File Timely Hypertension Claim No Bar to Subsequent Claim Related to Myocardial InfarctionA number of states, including Illinois, exclude workers’ compensation coverage for some recreational injuries that are deemed by statute to be outside the course and scope of the employment [see...
IL Middle School Teacher’s Injury in Student/Faculty Basketball Game Was Compensable IL Middle School Teacher’s Injury in Student/Faculty Basketball Game Was CompensableAdopting Dr. Arthur Larson’s “divided premises” rule [Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law § 13.01[4][b]], in which an employee remains within the course and scope of the employment while traveling along or...
South Carolina High Court Adopts Larson’s “Divided Premises” Rule South Carolina High Court Adopts Larson’s “Divided Premises” RuleA Mississippi pipe fitter, who sustained five broken ribs and a spinal cord injury when he fell a distance of approximately 25 feet from the top of a gum tree...
Boys Will Be Boys: Winning Comp Claim Isn’t as Easy as Falling Out of a Tree Boys Will Be Boys: Winning Comp Claim Isn’t as Easy as Falling Out of a TreeHigh Courts in Several States Strike Down Legislative Challenges to the Heart of the Workers’ Compensation System As we put together last year’s edition of the Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis...
The Year of Equal Justice and Due Process The Year of Equal Justice and Due ProcessNo Coverage Where Tortfeasor Was Co-Employee Answering a question certified to it from a federal district court sitting in New Mexico, that state’s Supreme Court held that an employee injured...
New Mexico High Court Blocks Estate’s Attempt to Go After Employer’s Uninsured Motorist Coverage New Mexico High Court Blocks Estate’s Attempt to Go After Employer’s Uninsured Motorist CoverageFor many of us, it’s uncanny. Within a few days of flying on a commercial jet, we come down with some sort of cold or bronchial disorder. Our intuition tells us...
NY Correction Officer Fails to Link Bronchitis to Commercial Airline Flight NY Correction Officer Fails to Link Bronchitis to Commercial Airline FlightOn October 5, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor released a widely anticipated report on the adequacy of state-based workers’ compensation programs. While the 41-page report does not go as...
Has the Other Shoe Dropped? New Report Signals Feds Are Losing Patience with State Workers’ Compensation Programs Has the Other Shoe Dropped? New Report Signals Feds Are Losing Patience with State Workers’ Compensation ProgramsAppellate Division of Maine’s Comp Board Orders Two Employers to Reimburse Workers for Treatment Costs In two separate decisions, the Appellate Division of Maine’s Workers’ Compensation Board recently affirmed two...
Medical Marijuana: Reasonable and Necessary Medical Treatment for Pain? Medical Marijuana: Reasonable and Necessary Medical Treatment for Pain?Earlier today (September 13, 2016), in Vasquez v. Dillard’s, Inc., 2016 OK 89, in a 7–2 decision, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, in one of the most important workers’ compensation...
Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s Opt Out Law Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s Opt Out LawIllustrating the deep—and sometimes bitter—divide between some who espouse clinically oriented medical treatment and others that promote the so-called “best practices” guidelines outlined in evidence-based medicine (EBM), a Special Workers’...
510 Pills Per Month With Little Improvement: Tennessee High Court Allows Change of Physician 510 Pills Per Month With Little Improvement: Tennessee High Court Allows Change of Physician
New Comments