Category: Case comment

Mar 17, 2020

Jury-Rigged “Safety” Mechanism Subjects NJ Employer to Substantially Certain Tort Claim

Allegations that a New Jersey company maintained an unwritten policy of avoiding the use of a lock-out, tag-out (“LOTO”) safety feature on a machine because doing so would require a...

Jury-Rigged “Safety” Mechanism Subjects NJ Employer to Substantially Certain Tort Claim Jury-Rigged “Safety” Mechanism Subjects NJ Employer to Substantially Certain Tort Claim
Mar 16, 2020

Settlement of Comp Claim Bars Subsequent Civil Action Against Employer on “Third Party Attack” Theory

Where a residential counselor at a Pennsylvania inpatient psychiatric facility sought and successfully secured a $40,000 settlement from her employer in a workers’ compensation proceeding in connection with injuries she...

Settlement of Comp Claim Bars Subsequent Civil Action Against Employer on “Third Party Attack” Theory Settlement of Comp Claim Bars Subsequent Civil Action Against Employer on “Third Party Attack” Theory
Mar 13, 2020

Failure to Wear Seatbelt Proves Fatal to Virginia Driver’s Claim

Va. Code § 65.2-306(A)(4) bars workers’ compensation claims for injuries that, inter alia, result from a claimant’s willful misconduct in refusing “to perform a duty required by statute.” In that...

Failure to Wear Seatbelt Proves Fatal to Virginia Driver’s Claim Failure to Wear Seatbelt Proves Fatal to Virginia Driver’s Claim
Mar 12, 2020

Virginia Court Affirms Award for Brown Recluse Spider Bite

A Virginia appellate court recently affirmed a determination by the state’s Commission which, in a divided decision, had awarded workers’ compensation benefits to an administrative assistant who contended she was...

Virginia Court Affirms Award for Brown Recluse Spider Bite Virginia Court Affirms Award for Brown Recluse Spider Bite
Mar 11, 2020

Georgia Husband/Wife Driving Team Were Employees: Wife’s Tort Action Barred by Exclusivity

Stressing that under Georgia law, it is the right to control, not the actual exercise of that control, which determines whether the work relationship is one of employer and employee,...

Georgia Husband/Wife Driving Team Were Employees: Wife’s Tort Action Barred by Exclusivity Georgia Husband/Wife Driving Team Were Employees: Wife’s Tort Action Barred by Exclusivity
Mar 9, 2020

What Goes Around Comes Around: IRS Employee May Not Recover for Stress Associated with Pursuing Injury Claim

In a case replete with irony, as many of us scurry around gathering the plethora of information required to file our annual individual income tax returns, a federal district court...

What Goes Around Comes Around: IRS Employee May Not Recover for Stress Associated with Pursuing Injury Claim What Goes Around Comes Around: IRS Employee May Not Recover for Stress Associated with Pursuing Injury Claim
Mar 5, 2020

SC Supreme Court Says Deceased Worker’s “Girlfriend” Failed to Show Dependency

Reversing a decision of the state’s Court of Appeals, and side-stepping — at least to some degree — the issue of illicit relationships, the Supreme Court of South Carolina found...

SC Supreme Court Says Deceased Worker’s “Girlfriend” Failed to Show Dependency SC Supreme Court Says Deceased Worker’s “Girlfriend” Failed to Show Dependency
Mar 3, 2020

Virginia Police Officer’s Knowledge of Special Heart-Lung Presumption Does Not Trigger Statute of Limitations

Where a Virginia police officer in 2009 and 2010 signed acknowledgments that he had received a copy of Virginia’s special heart-lung presumption favoring police officers and certain others, the state’s...

Virginia Police Officer’s Knowledge of Special Heart-Lung Presumption Does Not Trigger Statute of Limitations Virginia Police Officer’s Knowledge of Special Heart-Lung Presumption Does Not Trigger Statute of Limitations
Mar 2, 2020

NY Court Disapproves of Board’s “Virtual Banking” of Benefits Where Claimant Returns to Work at Preinjury Wages

Where a law judge found that an injured New York worker was entitled to a PPD classification based on impairments to her cervical and lumbar spine, entitling her to nonschedule...

NY Court Disapproves of Board’s “Virtual Banking” of Benefits Where Claimant Returns to Work at Preinjury Wages NY Court Disapproves of Board’s “Virtual Banking” of Benefits Where Claimant Returns to Work at Preinjury Wages
Feb 28, 2020

Uninsured NY Employer May Not Use “Grave Injury” Statute to Defend 3rd-Party Indemnity Claim

In relevant part, N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 11 prohibits third-party claims for indemnification and contribution against an employer unless the injured employee has sustained a “grave injury” as defined...

Uninsured NY Employer May Not Use “Grave Injury” Statute to Defend 3rd-Party Indemnity Claim Uninsured NY Employer May Not Use “Grave Injury” Statute to Defend 3rd-Party Indemnity Claim
Feb 27, 2020

Michigan Auditor’s Auto Accident Injury Claim Not Barred by Going and Coming Rule

Stressing that the Michigan Supreme Court’s Stark decision had not set forth four “factors” to be weighed in determining whether a claimant’s going and coming injury nevertheless occurred in the...

Michigan Auditor’s Auto Accident Injury Claim Not Barred by Going and Coming Rule Michigan Auditor’s Auto Accident Injury Claim Not Barred by Going and Coming Rule
Feb 26, 2020

NY Hospital Employee’s Tort Action Against Outside Management Services Company Barred by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine

Where a hospital entered into a contract with a management services company (“the management company”), pursuant to which the management company trained and sometimes supervised the hospital’s “housekeepers,” but where...

NY Hospital Employee’s Tort Action Against Outside Management Services Company Barred by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine NY Hospital Employee’s Tort Action Against Outside Management Services Company Barred by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine