The Supreme Court of Kentucky, construing the state’s agricultural employee exemption [see Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 342.650(5) and 342.0011(18)], reversed a split decision of the state’s Court of Appeals...
KY Supreme Court Construes Agricultural Employee Exemption KY Supreme Court Construes Agricultural Employee ExemptionA New York appellate court held that while the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board was within its discretion when it found an injured worker had violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law §...
NY Claimant Should Not Have Been Permanently Barred From Indemnity Benefits NY Claimant Should Not Have Been Permanently Barred From Indemnity BenefitsPanel Says District Court Abused Discretion Last Wednesday, in California Trucking Ass’n v. Bonta, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 12629 (9th Cir., Apr. 28, 2021), a divided panel of the Ninth...
Split 9th Circuit Panel Overturns Injunction Favoring Golden State Truckers Split 9th Circuit Panel Overturns Injunction Favoring Golden State TruckersProviding a casebook-like discussion of the issues related to a workers’ compensation insurer’s intervention in a third-party civil action, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held...
Federal Court Allows Comp Insurer to Intervene in Injured Worker’s Third-Party Action Federal Court Allows Comp Insurer to Intervene in Injured Worker’s Third-Party ActionAn Illinois appellate court affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to a university employee who sustained injuries when she tripped and fell as she stepped over a chain barrier...
Illinois Court Tacitly Says No Recovery Since Injury Was Claimant’s Fault Illinois Court Tacitly Says No Recovery Since Injury Was Claimant’s FaultIn a memorandum opinion, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Office of Judges, which had been affirmed by the Board...
West Virginia High Court Says Unexplained Fall is Compensable West Virginia High Court Says Unexplained Fall is CompensableIn a case that has yo-yo’d between a federal district court (W.D. Tenn.) and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the latter affirmed, in relevant part, a decision by the...
Sixth Circuit Affirms $50K Punitive Damages Award for TN Employer’s Retaliation Against Undocumented Worker Sixth Circuit Affirms $50K Punitive Damages Award for TN Employer’s Retaliation Against Undocumented WorkerIn an unusual, “upside-down” case, in which the parents of a deceased employee argued that their son’s death was not compensable, because it was caused, in part they claimed, by...
In Missouri “Upside-Down” Case, Parents Fail to Prove Son’s Death was Caused by Obesity In Missouri “Upside-Down” Case, Parents Fail to Prove Son’s Death was Caused by ObesityNotwithstanding the doctrine of stare decisis, in this case a clear holding by the North Carolina Supreme Court that a person living in cohabitation with another, to whom he or...
Girlfriend’s Dependency Claim Filed in Face of NC Supreme Court Decision Does Not Warrant Sanctions Girlfriend’s Dependency Claim Filed in Face of NC Supreme Court Decision Does Not Warrant SanctionsAffirming a decision by an Iowa district court that found, under the circumstances of the case, that the employee had provided the employer with sufficient notice of injury pursuant to...
Iowa Court Says “Near Miss” Report Can Serve as Notice of Injury to Employer Iowa Court Says “Near Miss” Report Can Serve as Notice of Injury to EmployerObserving that in New York, the issue of voluntary retirement and/or withdrawal from the labor market were factual issues to be determined by the Board, and that the Board had...
NY Worker’s Failure to Stay in Touch With Employer Results in Finding that Worker Withdrew From Labor Market NY Worker’s Failure to Stay in Touch With Employer Results in Finding that Worker Withdrew From Labor MarketA New York appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that found a claimant had not violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 114-a, where various potential...
Job Application Inconsistencies Excused by NY Claimant’s Lack of Computer Skills Job Application Inconsistencies Excused by NY Claimant’s Lack of Computer Skills