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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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Mar 14, 2017

Worker’s Fall Was Not Idiopathic, in Spite of Opinion Offered by IME

In an unpublished decision, an Arizona appellate court found that the evidence in the record supported an ALJ’s award of workers’ compensation benefits to an office worker who sustained a...

Worker’s Fall Was Not Idiopathic, in Spite of Opinion Offered by IME Worker’s Fall Was Not Idiopathic, in Spite of Opinion Offered by IME
Mar 13, 2017

Airport Luggage Transport Driver Recovers Under Personal Comfort Doctrine

A Pittsburgh International Airport airport employee, whose job consisted of driving a luggage transport “tug,” and who sustained serious injuries when she flipped her tug as she traveled to one...

Airport Luggage Transport Driver Recovers Under Personal Comfort Doctrine Airport Luggage Transport Driver Recovers Under Personal Comfort Doctrine
Mar 13, 2017

“Fore”: Country Club Locker Room Attendant Struck in Groin by Golf Club Shaft May Sue Co-Employee

A locker room attendant at a Queensbury country club, who had his left testicle surgically removed following a bizarre incident in which the attendant was struck in the groin by...

“Fore”: Country Club Locker Room Attendant Struck in Groin by Golf Club Shaft May Sue Co-Employee “Fore”: Country Club Locker Room Attendant Struck in Groin by Golf Club Shaft May Sue Co-Employee
Mar 9, 2017

S.C. Supreme Court Says Return to Work Insufficient to Rebut Presumption of PTD Where Impairment to Back is Greater Than 50 Percent

Yesterday, in a divided decision, the Supreme Court of South Carolina, overruling an earlier decision of the state’s Court of Appeals, held that evidence of subsequent employment is insufficient by...

S.C. Supreme Court Says Return to Work Insufficient to Rebut Presumption of PTD Where Impairment to Back is Greater Than 50 Percent S.C. Supreme Court Says Return to Work Insufficient to Rebut Presumption of PTD Where Impairment to Back is Greater Than 50 Percent
Mar 2, 2017

Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case

The Court of Appeals of Virginia recently reiterated that in order to defeat a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, it is not enough to show that an employee was intoxicated...

Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case
Mar 1, 2017

$841,200 Fine Against Small Colorado Employer Was Unconstitutionally Excessive

While upholding the facial constitutionality of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 8–43–409, which provides for the imposition of fines against certain employers that fail to maintain workers’ compensation insurance, a Colorado...

$841,200 Fine Against Small Colorado Employer Was Unconstitutionally Excessive $841,200 Fine Against Small Colorado Employer Was Unconstitutionally Excessive
Mar 1, 2017

Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies “Willful Misconduct” Doctrine

Reversing a decision of the state’s Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Georgia, in Telecom v. Burdette, 2017 Ga. LEXIS 103 (Feb. 27, 2017), held that while the mere...

Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies “Willful Misconduct” Doctrine Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies “Willful Misconduct” Doctrine
Feb 16, 2017

Wyoming Worker Fails to Connect the Dots Between Original Surgery and Subsequent Procedure to Alleviate Continued Pain

The Supreme Court of Wyoming affirmed a finding by a state district court that an injured worker failed to establish a causal connection between her 2013 need for shoulder surgery...

Wyoming Worker Fails to Connect the Dots Between Original Surgery and Subsequent Procedure to Alleviate Continued Pain Wyoming Worker Fails to Connect the Dots Between Original Surgery and Subsequent Procedure to Alleviate Continued Pain
Feb 13, 2017

Ohio Employee’s Personal Delivery of FMLA Documents Was Not in Course and Scope of Employment

An Ohio appellate court affirmed a trial court’s finding that injuries sustained by an employee when she slipped and fell while descending a stairway as she left her employer’s HR...

Ohio Employee’s Personal Delivery of FMLA Documents Was Not in Course and Scope of Employment Ohio Employee’s Personal Delivery of FMLA Documents Was Not in Course and Scope of Employment
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

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