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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
May 26, 2026

NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke

A North Carolina district manager who suffered a stroke while preparing for the opening of a restaurant location—and who allegedly waited hours before coworkers summoned emergency assistance—may not pursue negligence...

NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke NC Court of Appeals: Exclusivity Doctrine Bars Negligence Suit Following Workplace Stroke

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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
Dec 7, 2016

Tennessee Court Awards Permanent Total Benefits For Worker’s Migraines

The 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 Migraines
Nov 21, 2016

Connecticut Police Officer’s Failure to File Timely Hypertension Claim No Bar to Subsequent Claim Related to Myocardial Infarction

Connecticut, 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 Infarction
Nov 18, 2016

IL Middle School Teacher’s Injury in Student/Faculty Basketball Game Was Compensable

A 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 Compensable
Nov 17, 2016

South Carolina High Court Adopts Larson’s “Divided Premises” Rule

Adopting 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” Rule

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