Category: Case comment

Sep 16, 2021

NY Court Says Collateral Estoppel Bars Injured Worker’s Subsequent Negligence Action Against Defendants

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision by a state trial court that granted defendants summary judgment in a negligence action filed against them related to the alleged malfunction...

NY Court Says Collateral Estoppel Bars Injured Worker’s Subsequent Negligence Action Against Defendants NY Court Says Collateral Estoppel Bars Injured Worker’s Subsequent Negligence Action Against Defendants
Sep 14, 2021

Res Judicata Does Not Bar KY Employee From Reopening Claim

Quoting Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, and stressing that the doctrine of res judicata should be applied differently in workers’ compensation cases than in the usual context of a judicial action,...

Res Judicata Does Not Bar KY Employee From Reopening Claim Res Judicata Does Not Bar KY Employee From Reopening Claim
Sep 13, 2021

SC Commission is Immune From Suit After Apparent Stumbling With Attorney’s Fee Lien

A South Carolina appellate court affirmed a decision by a state trial court that dismissed the civil action filed against the S.C. Workers’ Compensation Commission by a law firm who...

SC Commission is Immune From Suit After Apparent Stumbling With Attorney’s Fee Lien SC Commission is Immune From Suit After Apparent Stumbling With Attorney’s Fee Lien
Sep 2, 2021

Va. Employee’s Injuries Sustained While Moving Under Descending Door Are Compensable

In an opinion not designated for publication, the Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to an employee of an auto dealership who sustained injuries...

Va. Employee’s Injuries Sustained While Moving Under Descending Door Are Compensable Va. Employee’s Injuries Sustained While Moving Under Descending Door Are Compensable
Sep 1, 2021

KY Supreme Court Says Statute Terminating Income Benefits at Age 70 is Constitutional

The Kentucky Supreme Court held the 2018 amendment to Ky. Rev. Stat. 342.730(4), which terminates workers’ compensation income benefits when the recipient reaches the age of 70 or four years...

KY Supreme Court Says Statute Terminating Income Benefits at Age 70 is Constitutional KY Supreme Court Says Statute Terminating Income Benefits at Age 70 is Constitutional
Aug 30, 2021

GA Worker’s Subsequent Fall at Home Was an Intervening Cause of Current Condition

A Georgia appellate court found that a state superior court erred when it reversed the State Board of Workers’ Compensation’s determination that an injured worker had recovered from a work-related...

GA Worker’s Subsequent Fall at Home Was an Intervening Cause of Current Condition GA Worker’s Subsequent Fall at Home Was an Intervening Cause of Current Condition
Aug 26, 2021

Delaware Board Must Decide if COVID-Related Claim is Compensable

The Superior Court of Delaware (New Castle) held that the issue of whether an employee’s fatal COVID-19 infection was an injury or occupational disease must be determined by the state’s...

Delaware Board Must Decide if COVID-Related Claim is Compensable Delaware Board Must Decide if COVID-Related Claim is Compensable
Aug 24, 2021

Oregon Employee Recovers Benefits Following Explosion of Energy Drink

In a case with a rather bizarre fact pattern, an Oregon appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that awarded benefits to a painter who sustained...

Oregon Employee Recovers Benefits Following Explosion of Energy Drink Oregon Employee Recovers Benefits Following Explosion of Energy Drink
Aug 23, 2021

SD Worker’s Letter Asking for “Review of Benefits” Was Inadequate to Toll Limitations Statute

Acknowledging the relative informality within the South Dakota workers’ compensation laws as well as the public policy that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act and its rules should be construed liberally...

SD Worker’s Letter Asking for “Review of Benefits” Was Inadequate to Toll Limitations Statute SD Worker’s Letter Asking for “Review of Benefits” Was Inadequate to Toll Limitations Statute
Aug 19, 2021

MN High Court Says Injured Worker Failed to Establish Exception Allowing Long-Term Opioid Use

In a carefully crafted decision dealing with a chronic problem both within and without the workers’ compensation world—long-term opioid use—the Supreme Court of Minnesota held an injured workers treatment with...

MN High Court Says Injured Worker Failed to Establish Exception Allowing Long-Term Opioid Use MN High Court Says Injured Worker Failed to Establish Exception Allowing Long-Term Opioid Use
Aug 17, 2021

Delaware Worker’s Running in Workplace Bars Claim for Injuries

Construing 19 Del. C. § 2353(b), which bars an employee’s right to compensation for an injury if the injury results, inter alia, from “the employee’s deliberate and reckless indifference to...

Delaware Worker’s Running in Workplace Bars Claim for Injuries Delaware Worker’s Running in Workplace Bars Claim for Injuries
Aug 9, 2021

Utah IME Physician May Not Be Sued by Workers’ Comp Claimant

Finding that a physician-patient relationship did not exist between a doctor hired by the workers’ compensation carrier to perform an independent medical examination of the claimant, the Supreme Court of...

Utah IME Physician May Not Be Sued by Workers’ Comp Claimant Utah IME Physician May Not Be Sued by Workers’ Comp Claimant