Category: Case comment

Dec 29, 2014

Ohio Worker May Receive TTD Benefits In Spite of Positive Drug Test After Injury

Reiterating the Ohio rule that that a pre-injury infraction undetected until after the injury is not grounds for concluding that a claimant voluntarily abandoned his employment so as to preclude...

Ohio Worker May Receive TTD Benefits In Spite of Positive Drug Test After Injury Ohio Worker May Receive TTD Benefits In Spite of Positive Drug Test After Injury
Dec 24, 2014

8th Circuit: Insurer’s Refusal to Pay for Injured Undocumented Worker’s Groceries and Cable TV Not Bad-Faith Denial of Insurance Benefits

In an action alleging bad-faith denial of insurance benefits filed by an undocumented worker who sustained severe injuries in a work-related accident, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, construing Iowa...

8th Circuit: Insurer’s Refusal to Pay for Injured Undocumented Worker’s Groceries and Cable TV Not Bad-Faith Denial of Insurance Benefits 8th Circuit: Insurer’s Refusal to Pay for Injured Undocumented Worker’s Groceries and Cable TV Not Bad-Faith Denial of Insurance Benefits
Dec 19, 2014

Kentucky Court Affirms Limitation of Attorney’s Fee in Comp Claim Involving Multiple Beneficiaries

The Court of Appeals of Kentucky, in Roberts v. Sticklen, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 186 (Dec. 12, 2014) held that the plain language of Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 342.320(2)(a)...

Kentucky Court Affirms Limitation of Attorney’s Fee in Comp Claim Involving Multiple Beneficiaries

Kentucky Court Affirms Limitation of Attorney’s Fee in Comp Claim Involving Multiple Beneficiaries

Dec 19, 2014

Alabama: Injuries Sustained While Seeking Medical Treatment For Earlier Injury Are Compensable

In a case of first impression in Alabama, a state appellate court recently held that injuries sustained while traveling to or from a location to receive treatment for an earlier...

Alabama: Injuries Sustained While Seeking Medical Treatment For Earlier Injury Are Compensable Alabama: Injuries Sustained While Seeking Medical Treatment For Earlier Injury Are Compensable
Dec 15, 2014

Maine Employer May Suspend Comp Benefits to Employee Who Mysteriously Disappeared

In a case with a bizarre setting—the injured employee mysteriously disappeared in March 2012, after being awarded and receiving workers’ compensation disability benefits for almost three years—the Supreme Judicial Court...

Maine Employer May Suspend Comp Benefits to Employee Who Mysteriously Disappeared Maine Employer May Suspend Comp Benefits to Employee Who Mysteriously Disappeared
Dec 12, 2014

Florida Court Reverses Award Requiring Employer to Pay for Kidney Removal Based on Hindrance of Treatment Doctrine

A Florida appellate court recently reversed an order by a Judge of Compensation Claims requiring the employer/carrier to provide Claimant with treatment for a renal mass/cancer to the extent that...

Florida Court Reverses Award Requiring Employer to Pay for Kidney Removal Based on Hindrance of Treatment Doctrine Florida Court Reverses Award Requiring Employer to Pay for Kidney Removal Based on Hindrance of Treatment Doctrine
Dec 9, 2014

Dependents of Ohio Worker Who Lived 4.5 Hours After Fall Awarded 1,225 Weeks of PPD Benefits

Continuing a line of decisions that have awarded permanent partial disability benefits to dependents of workers who sustain fatal injuries in a work-related incident, but who survive the incident for...

Dependents of Ohio Worker Who Lived 4.5 Hours After Fall Awarded 1,225 Weeks of PPD Benefits Dependents of Ohio Worker Who Lived 4.5 Hours After Fall Awarded 1,225 Weeks of PPD Benefits
Dec 7, 2014

Commentary: Florida Supreme Court Hints at How It May Decide Constitutionality of Florida Comp Act

In a decision handed down last Thursday [Morales v. Zenith Ins. Co., 2014 Fla. LEXIS 3555 (Dec. 4, 2014)], the Supreme Court of Florida may well have tipped its hand...

Commentary: Florida Supreme Court Hints at How It May Decide Constitutionality of Florida Comp Act Commentary: Florida Supreme Court Hints at How It May Decide Constitutionality of Florida Comp Act
Dec 4, 2014

Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies Independent Contractor-Employee Distinction

In a 6–1 decision, the Supreme Court of Michigan has reversed a 2013 decision of a special panel of the state’s Court of Appeals, finding that a landscape worker was...

Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies Independent Contractor-Employee Distinction Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies Independent Contractor-Employee Distinction
Nov 28, 2014

NY: Co-employee Immunity Bars Exercise Rider’s Suit For Crushed Foot From Falling Anvil

A civil action filed by one equestrian exercise rider against another for injuries sustained when an anvil owned by the defendant fell from defendant’s vehicle and crushed plaintiff’s foot is...

NY: Co-employee Immunity Bars Exercise Rider’s Suit For Crushed Foot From Falling Anvil NY: Co-employee Immunity Bars Exercise Rider’s Suit For Crushed Foot From Falling Anvil
Nov 19, 2014

Illinois Widow Gets Death Benefits after Husband Succumbs to Neisseria Meningitides Contracted on Brazilian Business Trip

In a decision that may provide some indication as to how the court might decide a claim involving Ebola exposure, an Illinois appellate court has affirmed a finding by the...

Illinois Widow Gets Death Benefits after Husband Succumbs to Neisseria Meningitides Contracted on Brazilian Business Trip Illinois Widow Gets Death Benefits after Husband Succumbs to Neisseria Meningitides Contracted on Brazilian Business Trip
Nov 18, 2014

Delaware Employer’s Inability to Rehire Undocumented Worker Following Injury is Its Worry, Not the Worker’s

Observing that the employee must must be taken as he or she was hired, that in determining an employee’s “earning power” following an injury, Delaware courts are authorized to consider...

Delaware Employer’s Inability to Rehire Undocumented Worker Following Injury is Its Worry, Not the Worker’s Delaware Employer’s Inability to Rehire Undocumented Worker Following Injury is Its Worry, Not the Worker’s