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Jun 5, 2026

Iowa Supreme Court: Employer Not Bound by Opinion of Its Own Treating Physician

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 Physician
Jun 2, 2026

Maine Supreme Court: Massachusetts Law Strips Staffing Client of Workers’ Compensation Immunity

Court 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 Immunity
Jun 1, 2026

NY High Court Holds JIWA Bars Collateral Estoppel Effect of Pre-Enactment Workers’ Comp Decisions

New 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 Decisions
May 27, 2026

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of Death Benefits Where Work Injury Delayed Cancer Treatment

In 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

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Apr 26, 2017

Arizona Social Worker Employed At Prison May Not Sue State for Slip and Fall Injuries

Where the State of Arizona, through its Department of Corrections, had an ongoing duty to insure that inmates received adequate health services and it contracted with an employment services provider...

Arizona Social Worker Employed At Prison May Not Sue State for Slip and Fall Injuries Arizona Social Worker Employed At Prison May Not Sue State for Slip and Fall Injuries
Apr 25, 2017

Disagreement Does Not Equal Clear and Convincing Evidence That Tennessee MIR Physician’s Opinion was Wrong

Where the opinion offered by an employee’s medical expert merely disagreed with the medical impairment registry (MIR) physician’s findings, yet did not show how that the MIR physician had used...

Disagreement Does Not Equal Clear and Convincing Evidence That Tennessee MIR Physician’s Opinion was Wrong Disagreement Does Not Equal Clear and Convincing Evidence That Tennessee MIR Physician’s Opinion was Wrong
Apr 24, 2017

New Jersey Has Jurisdiction to Hear Claim for Out-of-State Injury Where Employment Contract Completed Within the State

Where a New Jersey resident filed an online application for employment with a New York furniture company, received a phone call at his home to arrange an interview at the...

New Jersey Has Jurisdiction to Hear Claim for Out-of-State Injury Where Employment Contract Completed Within the State New Jersey Has Jurisdiction to Hear Claim for Out-of-State Injury Where Employment Contract Completed Within the State
Apr 20, 2017

Florida Correctional Department Successfully Rebuts Heart-Lung Presumption

A Florida appellate court ruled that a state judge of compensation claims erred when the JCC awarded benefits to a correctional officer under the state’s Heart-Lung statute, which generally provides...

Florida Correctional Department Successfully Rebuts Heart-Lung Presumption Florida Correctional Department Successfully Rebuts Heart-Lung Presumption
Apr 12, 2017

Arkansas Opt-Out Scenario—Still No Text in the Introduced Bill

As I indicated here in an earlier post (March 29, 2017), the Arkansas workers’ compensation “opt out” bill exists only as a shell, with literally no details contained in 2017...

Arkansas Opt-Out Scenario—Still No Text in the Introduced Bill Arkansas Opt-Out Scenario—Still No Text in the Introduced Bill
Apr 12, 2017

Tennessee Widow Loses Battle Related to Injured Worker’s Overdose Death

In a case that echoes the plight of all too many injured workers in the U.S., the Supreme Court of Tennessee has overturned a decision of a state chancery court...

Tennessee Widow Loses Battle Related to Injured Worker’s Overdose Death Tennessee Widow Loses Battle Related to Injured Worker’s Overdose Death
Apr 7, 2017

Arbitrator’s Decision in PA Heart and Lung Hearing is Not Binding on Workers’ Compensation Judge

While issue preclusion generally applies to the decisions of Workers’ Compensation Boards and Commissions, just as it does generally to court decisions [see, e.g., Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 127.07],...

Arbitrator’s Decision in PA Heart and Lung Hearing is Not Binding on Workers’ Compensation Judge Arbitrator’s Decision in PA Heart and Lung Hearing is Not Binding on Workers’ Compensation Judge
Apr 6, 2017

Employer Not Prejudiced by Lack of Formal Notice When Supervisor Witnessed the Employee’s Injury

Where a highway construction worker, who had completed a strenuous shift of work on a hot summer day, lost consciousness, and fell to the ground in the presence of his...

Employer Not Prejudiced by Lack of Formal Notice When Supervisor Witnessed the Employee’s Injury Employer Not Prejudiced by Lack of Formal Notice When Supervisor Witnessed the Employee’s Injury
Apr 5, 2017

New York: Nurse’s Stress Claim Tied to Bona Fide Personnel Decision is Not Compensable

Where a registered nurse claimed that she sustained work-related injuries consisting of insomnia, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and severe social phobia when she was wrongfully terminated, reinstated, and then...

New York: Nurse’s Stress Claim Tied to Bona Fide Personnel Decision is Not Compensable New York: Nurse’s Stress Claim Tied to Bona Fide Personnel Decision is Not Compensable
Apr 4, 2017

New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not Compensable

Acknowledging that N.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 21 provides a presumption of compensability where the decedent’s initial injury occurs while he or she at work, a New York appellate court...

New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not Compensable New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not Compensable
Mar 29, 2017

Arkansas Opt-Out Bill: The Devil’s in the Details

Only There Aren’t any Details—at Least Not Yet Lately, I’ve seen a number of news items indicating that the Arkansas Legislature is considering an opt-out arrangement for its workers’ compensation...

Arkansas Opt-Out Bill: The Devil’s in the Details Arkansas Opt-Out Bill: The Devil’s in the Details
Mar 15, 2017

Employer-Provided Motel Room Insufficient to Transform Georgia Worker into Traveling Employee

Reiterating that Georgia Superior Courts are required to give appropriate deference to the factual findings of the Appellate Division of the Board of Workers’ Compensation, the Court of Appeals of...

Employer-Provided Motel Room Insufficient to Transform Georgia Worker into Traveling Employee Employer-Provided Motel Room Insufficient to Transform Georgia Worker into Traveling Employee

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