Newest Articles

Oct 5, 2026

Louisiana Court: Paid a Percentage, Still an Employee

LA Fourth Circuit, 3–2, Holds Dump-Truck Driver Paid 25% of Truck Earnings Was an Employee Despite 1099; Dissent Invokes Manifest-Error Review The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit recently reversed...

Louisiana Court: Paid a Percentage, Still an Employee Louisiana Court: Paid a Percentage, Still an Employee
Sep 29, 2026

Alcohol Falls Outside KY’s Presumption of Causation

KY Supreme Court Holds the Statutory Presumption Against Recovery for Intoxicating Substances Does Not Apply to Alcohol The Kentucky Supreme Court has affirmed benefits for a traffic flagger who was...

Alcohol Falls Outside KY’s Presumption of Causation Alcohol Falls Outside KY’s Presumption of Causation
Sep 28, 2026

The Heart Has Wiring, Too

FL First DCA Holds Harlem’s Narrow “Heart Disease” Definition Does Not Bar a Firefighter’s Arrhythmia Claim Under the Heart-Lung Presumption Florida’s First District Court of Appeal has affirmed an award...

The Heart Has Wiring, Too The Heart Has Wiring, Too
Sep 24, 2026

“Closed” Under Old Rules, Reprocessed Under New

Oregon Court Applies New Claim-Closure Requirements to Case Pending on Judicial Review The Oregon Court of Appeals has held that 2022 amendments limiting retroactive “medically stationary” determinations apply to a...

“Closed” Under Old Rules, Reprocessed Under New “Closed” Under Old Rules, Reprocessed Under New

All Articles

ARCHIVE
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
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
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

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