Workers’ compensation exclusivity is often discussed in broad terms, but difficult questions sometimes arise at the margins—particularly when an employee alleges misconduct not in causing the original injury, but in...
Federal Court Holds PA’s Exclusivity Bars Tortious Interference Claim Federal Court Holds PA’s Exclusivity Bars Tortious Interference ClaimLawyers are paid to draft agreements carefully. Contracts define relationships, allocate risk, and—at least in theory—clarify who stands in what legal posture to whom. But in workers’ compensation law, labels...
Substance Over Form: TN Court Looks Past Contract Label in Borrowed Employee Dispute Substance Over Form: TN Court Looks Past Contract Label in Borrowed Employee DisputeNo Reliable Proof of Increased Occupational Risk As the first wave of COVID-19 workers’ compensation litigation begins to settle into the books, appellate courts are leaving behind decisions that will...
Texas Court Rejects COVID-19 Death Claim Texas Court Rejects COVID-19 Death ClaimWorkers’ compensation immunity is often described as the product of a grand bargain: employers assume no-fault liability for workplace injuries, and in return receive protection from civil tort suits. But...
FL Court Rejects Workers’ Comp Immunity Defense Where No Subcontract Ever Existed FL Court Rejects Workers’ Comp Immunity Defense Where No Subcontract Ever ExistedReporting an Injury Alone Does Not Trigger Retaliation Protection In Delaware, an employee does not “claim” or “attempt to claim” workers’ compensation benefits merely by informing an employer of an...
Delaware High Court Clarifies What Counts as “Claiming” Workers’ Compensation Delaware High Court Clarifies What Counts as “Claiming” Workers’ CompensationThird Department Emphasizes Board’s Fact-Finding Authority and Strength of § 21 Presumption A workplace injury need not be witnessed to be compensable where circumstantial evidence supports the occurrence of an...
NY Court Affirms Claim Where Workplace Injury Unwitnessed but Supported by Circumstantial Evidence NY Court Affirms Claim Where Workplace Injury Unwitnessed but Supported by Circumstantial EvidenceWrong Legal Test Applied to Traveling Employee Reversing the circuit court and setting aside the Commission’s award of death benefits, the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, held that the...
Illinois Court Reverses Death Benefits Award Illinois Court Reverses Death Benefits AwardPulmonary Embolism Deemed Sole Cause; Water Aspiration Not a Substantial Factor In a divided, nonprecedential order, the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed the denial of death benefits where the Compensation...
NH Supreme Court Affirms CAB’s Fact-Finding Discretion in Divided Decision on Workplace Death NH Supreme Court Affirms CAB’s Fact-Finding Discretion in Divided Decision on Workplace DeathIn Teed v. Everest Campus East, LLC, 2026 Fla. App. LEXIS 2662 (Fla. 2d DCA Apr. 8, 2026), a Florida appellate court reversed summary judgment for a property manager, holding...
FL: Horizontal Immunity Requires a True Contractor–Subcontractor Relationship FL: Horizontal Immunity Requires a True Contractor–Subcontractor RelationshipIn Harris v. Tri-Tech Laboratories, LLC, 2026-Ohio-1152, 2026 Ohio App. LEXIS 1197 (Ohio Ct. App., 5th Dist. Mar. 31, 2026), the Fifth District affirmed dismissal of an employee’s intentional tort...
Ohio Intentional Tort Claims: Pleading the Deliberate Intent Standard Under R.C. 2745.01 Ohio Intentional Tort Claims: Pleading the Deliberate Intent Standard Under R.C. 2745.01The Supreme Court of Ohio recently held that the Industrial Commission failed to properly apply R.C. 4123.56(F) when it awarded temporary total disability (TTD) compensation to an injured nine-month school...
Ohio Supreme Court: R.C. 4123.56(F) Governs Summer TTD Claims of Nine-Month Employee Ohio Supreme Court: R.C. 4123.56(F) Governs Summer TTD Claims of Nine-Month EmployeeAL Supreme Court Bars Tort Claim Where Worker Accepted Comp Benefits In Duke v. Walmart, Inc., 2026 Ala. LEXIS 31 (Ala. Mar. 20, 2026), the Supreme Court of Alabama affirmed...
AL Supreme Court Bars Tort Claim Where Worker Accepted Comp Benefits AL Supreme Court Bars Tort Claim Where Worker Accepted Comp Benefits