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Jan 6, 2025

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim

In Collins v. Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART), 2024 Iowa App. LEXIS 918 (Dec. 18, 2024), the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed denial of workers’ compensation benefits to...

Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim Iowa Court Affirms Denial of Benefits re: COVID-19 Claim
Jan 6, 2025

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence

In Spisa-Kline v. Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, 2024 Neb. App. LEXIS 750 (Dec. 31, 2024), the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the employer in a workers’ compensation...

Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence Nebraska COVID-19 Claim Fails For Want of Expert Medical Evidence
Dec 31, 2024

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits

Appeals Court Examines Going and Coming Rule The Oregon Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded a Workers’ Compensation Board decision that had denied benefits to a worker injured while...

Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits Oregon Jaywalker Might Be Awarded Benefits
Dec 30, 2024

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

Insurer Had No Duty to Defend Intentional Tort Claim Against Co-Employee In Ortez v. Penn Nat’l Sec. Ins. Co., 2024 N.C. App. LEXIS 1017 (Dec. 17, 2024), the North Carolina...

NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment NC Court of Appeals Reverses $28.9 Million Tort Judgment

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Jan 20, 2014

Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp Premiums

A Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance ruling–later upheld by a state trial court–that a company was not liable for additional workers’ compensation insurance premiums related to the earnings of...

Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp Premiums Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp Premiums
Jan 17, 2014

US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is Difficult

Construing La. Rev. Stat. § 23:1032, which generally provides that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy of an employee injured within the course and scope of the employment unless the...

US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is Difficult US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is Difficult
Dec 28, 2013

South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor

Reversing a decision by the state’s court of appeals, the Supreme Court of South Carolina recently held that direct evidence supported the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s original determination that a certified...

South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor
Dec 24, 2013

Federal Judge in Phoenix Says RICO Case May Move Forward

A federal district court judge ruled yesterday that nine fire department employees may maintain a civil action they had filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations [RICO] Act against...

Federal Judge in Phoenix Says RICO Case May Move Forward Federal Judge in Phoenix Says RICO Case May Move Forward
Dec 23, 2013

Federal Court (Wisconsin) Allows IIED Claim to Move Forward; Exclusivity Did Not Apply Since Plaintiff Was On Administrative Leave

Construing Wisconsin’s exclusive remedy defense, a federal district court recently refused to dismiss a civil action filed by a former principal against a school district alleging, among other things, intentional...

Federal Court (Wisconsin) Allows IIED Claim to Move Forward; Exclusivity Did Not Apply Since Plaintiff Was On Administrative Leave Federal Court (Wisconsin) Allows IIED Claim to Move Forward; Exclusivity Did Not Apply Since Plaintiff Was On Administrative Leave
Dec 20, 2013

Illinois: Divided High Court Finds Injured Employee was Not a “Traveling Employee”

Construing the “traveling employee” rule, the Supreme Court of Illinois, in a divided decision, yesterday held that a worker who took a position with an employer located some 200 miles...

Illinois: Divided High Court Finds Injured Employee was Not a “Traveling Employee” Illinois: Divided High Court Finds Injured Employee was Not a “Traveling Employee”
Dec 18, 2013

Board Lacks Subject Matter Jurisdiction Where Former WBNA Player Involved in Only One Game During 34-Game Career

A former basketball player in the Women’s National Basketball Association, who never resided in California, played just one of her 34-game career within the state, and who suffered no specific...

Board Lacks Subject Matter Jurisdiction Where Former WBNA Player Involved in Only One Game During 34-Game Career Board Lacks Subject Matter Jurisdiction Where Former WBNA Player Involved in Only One Game During 34-Game Career
Dec 17, 2013

Oklahoma High Court Rejects Initial Challenge to Opt Out Law

Yesterday (December 16), the Supreme Court of Oklahoma rejected an initial constitutional challenge to the controversial overhaul of the state’s workers’ compensation system via Senate Bill 1062, which allows, among...

Oklahoma High Court Rejects Initial Challenge to Opt Out Law Oklahoma High Court Rejects Initial Challenge to Opt Out Law
Nov 18, 2013

Iowa: Undocumented Workers Are Protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act

The Supreme Court of Iowa recently held in relevant part that undocumented workers are not excluded from the Workers’ Compensation Act’s definition of “employee” and that the contract of employment...

Iowa: Undocumented Workers Are Protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act Iowa: Undocumented Workers Are Protected by the Workers’ Compensation Act
Nov 2, 2013

“Mental-Mental” Claims: Within Which Category Does West Virginia Fall?

As you may know, later this month (Nov. 20–22), attorneys, academics, claims managers, risk consultants, and others will gather at the 22nd Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference &...

“Mental-Mental” Claims: Within Which Category Does West Virginia Fall? “Mental-Mental” Claims: Within Which Category Does West Virginia Fall?
Oct 25, 2013

Florida: First DCA Certifies Constitutional Question After Affirming $165 Fee for 107 Hours of Work

Reluctantly affirming a decision by a Judge of Compensation Claims that had awarded claimant’s counsel an attorney’s fee of only $164.54 for 107.2 hours of legal work reasonably necessary to...

Florida: First DCA Certifies Constitutional Question After Affirming $165 Fee for 107 Hours of Work Florida: First DCA Certifies Constitutional Question After Affirming $165 Fee for 107 Hours of Work
Oct 24, 2013

Virginia: Self-Treatment by Rehab Professor Nixes Benefits for Subsequent Injuries

While Scripture may say, “Physician, heal thyself” [Luke 4:23, King James Version], that advice should apparently be avoided by professors of rehabilitation counseling. In a case replete with irony, the...

Virginia: Self-Treatment by Rehab Professor Nixes Benefits for Subsequent Injuries Virginia: Self-Treatment by Rehab Professor Nixes Benefits for Subsequent Injuries

New Comments

  • 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
  • Thomas A. Robinson: Good point, although the interesting thing about the case--at least to me--is that it discusses the important "injury by accident" issue. That issue, present in at least a plurality of state acts, is largely ignored by Commissions, Boards, and Courts these days. Here, also, the case was so fact-specific that even it had been issued as published, it would be factually distinguishable from many othe...
  • kathlyn gorman: It should have been noted in your discussion that this is an unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Thus, it does not constitute controlling legal authority.
  • Thomas A. Robinson: You're correct. Ordinarily, I can depend upon Alabama to provide me with at least one case for "the List." I'll bet 2022 will unearth something bizarre from the Great State of Alabama. Take care.