Category: Case comment

Jan 28, 2016

Tennessee Nurse’s PTSD Claim Fails In Spite of Flashback to Being Raped As Child

In an opinion not yet designated for publication [see Ireton v. Horizon Mental Health Mgmt., LLC, 2016 Tenn. LEXIS 3 (Jan. 19, 2016), a Tennessee appeals panel affirmed the denial...

Tennessee Nurse’s PTSD Claim Fails In Spite of Flashback to Being Raped As Child Tennessee Nurse’s PTSD Claim Fails In Spite of Flashback to Being Raped As Child
Jan 27, 2016

Valley Fever Plaintiff Fails To Establish Comp Insurance Co.’s Extreme or Outrageous Conduct

Where a Mississippi resident contracted coccidiodomycosis (“Valley Fever”) at a job site in California and had received some indemnity and medical benefits under California’s Workers’ Compensation Act (“the Act”), he...

Valley Fever Plaintiff Fails To Establish Comp Insurance Co.’s Extreme or Outrageous Conduct Valley Fever Plaintiff Fails To Establish Comp Insurance Co.’s Extreme or Outrageous Conduct
Jan 27, 2016

Georgia M.D.’s Medical Report Indicating Claimant Was Threat to Doctor and Staff Not Libelous

Where an patient’s treating physician dictated a narrative report that became part of the patient’s worker’s compensation claim file indicating that the patient, through a translator, had made threatening statements...

Georgia M.D.’s Medical Report Indicating Claimant Was Threat to Doctor and Staff Not Libelous Georgia M.D.’s Medical Report Indicating Claimant Was Threat to Doctor and Staff Not Libelous
Jan 14, 2016

New Mexico Employer Need Not Accommodate Medical Marijuana Use

An employer need not accommodate a New Mexico employee’s use of medical marijuana, even when that use is sanctioned under the state’s Compassionate Use Act (“CUA”), held a federal district...

New Mexico Employer Need Not Accommodate Medical Marijuana Use New Mexico Employer Need Not Accommodate Medical Marijuana Use
Jan 7, 2016

Oregon Court Says Walking to Post Office Isn’t “Recreational” Just Because Employee Enjoyed the Activity

That an office worker enjoyed walking did not transform her trip to the post office during the workday into recreational activity, held an Oregon appellate court recently in Sedgwick Claims...

Oregon Court Says Walking to Post Office Isn’t “Recreational” Just Because Employee Enjoyed the Activity Oregon Court Says Walking to Post Office Isn’t “Recreational” Just Because Employee Enjoyed the Activity
Jan 5, 2016

California Court Uses Firefighter’s Rule to Bar Negligence Action By UPS Driver

Applying the firefighter’s rule, a specialized assumption of risk doctrine under which, in its most classic form, a person who starts a fire is said to owe no duty of...

California Court Uses Firefighter’s Rule to Bar Negligence Action By UPS Driver California Court Uses Firefighter’s Rule to Bar Negligence Action By UPS Driver
Dec 31, 2015

Nebraska Court: Injured Employee Failed to Establish Spinal Cord Stimulator Was Reasonable and Necessary

A Nebraska appellate court, in Yost v. Davita, Inc., 23 Neb. App. 482, 2015 Neb. App. LEXIS 204 (Dec. 29, 2015), affirmed a compensation court’s decision that an employer was...

Nebraska Court: Injured Employee Failed to Establish Spinal Cord Stimulator Was Reasonable and Necessary Nebraska Court: Injured Employee Failed to Establish Spinal Cord Stimulator Was Reasonable and Necessary
Dec 23, 2015

Florida Supreme Court Delivers Coup de Gras to Padgett

In a short—yet stinging—Order issued late yesterday [December 22, 2015], the Supreme Court of Florida declined to accept jurisdiction and accordingly denied a petition for review that had been filed...

Florida Supreme Court Delivers Coup de Gras to Padgett Florida Supreme Court Delivers Coup de Gras to Padgett
Dec 23, 2015

Iowa High Court Says Discovery Rule Applies to Single Trauma Injuries

In Baker v. Bridgestone/Firestone, 2015 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 103 (Dec. 18, 2015), the Supreme Court of Iowa recently held that the discovery rule in workers’ compensation law applies not only...

Iowa High Court Says Discovery Rule Applies to Single Trauma Injuries Iowa High Court Says Discovery Rule Applies to Single Trauma Injuries
Dec 11, 2015

Louisiana: Prescriptive Period Does Not Commence Until Party Has Knowledge of Cause of Action

Applying the “discovery rule” [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 126.05], pursuant to which the prescription period may be suspended where the cause of action is not known or reasonably...

Louisiana: Prescriptive Period Does Not Commence Until Party Has Knowledge of Cause of Action Louisiana: Prescriptive Period Does Not Commence Until Party Has Knowledge of Cause of Action
Dec 9, 2015

Amendments to Social Security Act in 2000 Do Not Trump Kansas Offset Statute

Overruling Dickens v. Pizza Co., Inc., 266 Kan. 1066, 1071, 974 P.2d 601 (1999), which had adopted an exception to the general rule allowing reduction in workers’ compensation benefits where...

Amendments to Social Security Act in 2000 Do Not Trump Kansas Offset Statute Amendments to Social Security Act in 2000 Do Not Trump Kansas Offset Statute
Dec 8, 2015

Illinois Police Officer’s Back Injury Lifting Duty Bag at Home Found Compensable

A police officer, who injured his back as he lifted his “duty bag” to place it in his personal vehicle prior to leaving his home for work sustained an injury...

Illinois Police Officer’s Back Injury Lifting Duty Bag at Home Found Compensable Illinois Police Officer’s Back Injury Lifting Duty Bag at Home Found Compensable