Certified Question From Tenth Circuit re: “Dual-Capacity” A divided Supreme Court of Oklahoma, responding to a question certified to it by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, has held the...
Oklahoma Supreme Court: Parent Corporation Not Always Shielded by Exclusive Remedy Doctrine Oklahoma Supreme Court: Parent Corporation Not Always Shielded by Exclusive Remedy DoctrineFrom Comp Standpoint: Are Uber, Lyft & Grubhub Truly “Disruptive?” Lamenting that in California, a worker’s status as an employee, vis-a-vis an independent contractor, is an “all-or-nothing proposition,” a U.S....
California Grubhub Driver is Independent Contractor, Not Employee California Grubhub Driver is Independent Contractor, Not EmployeeTemporary Employee Has Option of Claiming Benefits or Suing in Tort Based, at least in part, on the court’s so-called “literal” reading of a Wisconsin statute [Wis. Stat. § 102.29(6)(b)1.], the...
The Road Less Traveled: Wisconsin Court of Appeals Shuns Majority Rule Re: Borrowing Employer’s Tort Immunity The Road Less Traveled: Wisconsin Court of Appeals Shuns Majority Rule Re: Borrowing Employer’s Tort ImmunityAnnual “Bizarre” List Began 30 Years Ago Continuing a New Year’s tradition that informally began 30 years ago, when my mentor, Dr. Arthur Larson, original author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation...
The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2017 The Top 10 Bizarre Workers’ Comp Cases for 2017A worker, who sustained severe injuries, including a left-hand amputation and major depressive disorder, while performing routine maintenance on the employer’s conveyor belt system, is not entitled to additional compensation...
Ohio Commission Erred in Assessing Penalties Against Employer for Safety Violations Ohio Commission Erred in Assessing Penalties Against Employer for Safety ViolationsIn what some may view as insult added to injury, an unemployed New Jersey firefighter, who sustained significant injuries to her leg when she slipped and fell on ice as...
Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Denied TD Benefits Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Denied TD BenefitsYesterday, in an eagerly awaited decision, Vitale v. Schering-Plough Corp., Case No. A-20-16 (Dec. 11, 2017), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that a disclaimer in an employment agreement...
NJ High Court Strikes Down Employment Contract Clauses Waiving Third-Party Claims NJ High Court Strikes Down Employment Contract Clauses Waiving Third-Party ClaimsVirginia Employer Need Not Provide Specialized “Running Blade” Prosthesis While all but a few American jurisdictions require employers to provide medical benefits that are essentially unlimited in terms of duration...
Medical Benefits Must be “Reasonable and Necessary”—Not Just Beneficial Medical Benefits Must be “Reasonable and Necessary”—Not Just BeneficialThe Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission did not err when it found that a state trooper’s PTSD did not arise out of and in the course of his employment [Hess v....
Virginia Court Reiterates Objective Standard For PTSD Claims Virginia Court Reiterates Objective Standard For PTSD ClaimsAn officer of a Florida corporation, who elected to be exempt from workers’ compensation coverage [see § 440.02(15)(b)(1), Fla. Stat. (2008)], and whose “employing” corporation was a subcontractor on a...
Exempt Florida Corporate Officer of Subcontractor Barred From Suing General Contractor Exempt Florida Corporate Officer of Subcontractor Barred From Suing General ContractorStressing that the weighing of expert medical evidence is the province of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission—and not the appellate courts—the Court of Appeals of Mississippi affirmed a decision awarding...
MS Worker’s Staph Infection Was Causally Connected to Epidural Injections for Back Injury MS Worker’s Staph Infection Was Causally Connected to Epidural Injections for Back InjuryDeath Benefits Claim Barred by Going and Coming Rule In spite of (1) an employer’s designation of an employee as a “field electrician”; (2) the employer’s payment of a $75...
Texas Electrician Was Not Traveling Employee In Spite of Weekly Stipend Texas Electrician Was Not Traveling Employee In Spite of Weekly Stipend