Category: Case comment

Mar 30, 2015

Pennsylvania Nurse Due Partial Benefits Because of Allergy to Hospital Floor Wax

Where a registered nurse suffered multiple allergic attacks caused by exposure to a chemical component of a floor wax product used by the hospital employing her, she was entitled to...

Pennsylvania Nurse Due Partial Benefits Because of Allergy to Hospital Floor Wax Pennsylvania Nurse Due Partial Benefits Because of Allergy to Hospital Floor Wax
Mar 24, 2015

Surveillance Video Sinks Ohio Claimant’s Odd-Lot Claim

Surveillance video spanning a period of almost three years that showed that the claimant, a former dockworker and truck driver, engaged in numerous physical activities, including riding a motorcycle, attending...

Surveillance Video Sinks Ohio Claimant’s Odd-Lot Claim Surveillance Video Sinks Ohio Claimant’s Odd-Lot Claim
Mar 23, 2015

South Carolina Supreme Court Says Exotic Dancer Was an Employee of Nightclub

In a split decision, the Supreme Court of South Carolina, reversing a majority decision by the state’s Court of Appeals, held that an exotic dancer was an employee—not an independent...

South Carolina Supreme Court Says Exotic Dancer Was an Employee of Nightclub South Carolina Supreme Court Says Exotic Dancer Was an Employee of Nightclub
Mar 18, 2015

Colorado Employer and Carrier Need Not Disclose if They Made Gifts to State Comp Judges

A Colorado workers’ compensation insurer and an employer’s counsel need not respond to a discovery request made by a workers’ compensation claimant that they disclose whether any of them had...

Colorado Employer and Carrier Need Not Disclose if They Made Gifts to State Comp Judges Colorado Employer and Carrier Need Not Disclose if They Made Gifts to State Comp Judges
Mar 12, 2015

Juries Will Decide if Uber and Lyft Drivers are Employees

Supplementing my earlier post, in separate rulings yesterday, both Uber and Lyft failed to satisfy United States District Court judges that their drivers are independent contractors and not employees [see...

Juries Will Decide if Uber and Lyft Drivers are Employees Juries Will Decide if Uber and Lyft Drivers are Employees
Mar 11, 2015

MN High Court Gives Math Lesson to Lower Court: “2/3 Does Not Equal 1/2”

Holding that the factual findings of a workers’ compensation judge were “self-contradictory,” the Supreme Court of Minnesota has, for the second time, reversed and remanded an award of benefits to...

MN High Court Gives Math Lesson to Lower Court: “2/3 Does Not Equal 1/2” MN High Court Gives Math Lesson to Lower Court: “2/3 Does Not Equal 1/2”
Mar 10, 2015

Tell-Tale Web Page on Employee’s Blackberry Spells Doom for South Dakota Comp Claim

An employee’s injuries sustained in a one-car auto accident while he drove down a dead-end road some 2.5 miles from his office did not arise out of and in the...

Tell-Tale Web Page on Employee’s Blackberry Spells Doom for South Dakota Comp Claim Tell-Tale Web Page on Employee’s Blackberry Spells Doom for South Dakota Comp Claim
Mar 3, 2015

Chicago Plumbing Inspector’s Trip & Fall on Street Curb is Compensable

A City of Chicago plumbing inspector, whose duties required him to travel throughout the city by car to inspect the plumbing in both residential and commercial buildings, sustained an injury...

Chicago Plumbing Inspector’s Trip & Fall on Street Curb is Compensable Chicago Plumbing Inspector’s Trip & Fall on Street Curb is Compensable
Jan 26, 2015

Maine Home Treadmill Fatality Found Compensable

Illustrating the point that for telecommuting employees, who are often tethered to their employers by ubiquitous cell phones and tablets, the line between the employment world and private life is...

Maine Home Treadmill Fatality Found Compensable Maine Home Treadmill Fatality Found Compensable
Jan 21, 2015

New Mexico: Health Care Provider’s “Certification” of Medical Marijuana is Functional Equivalent of Prescription for Injured Worker

An authorized treating health care provider’s “certification” authorizing the use of medical marijuana under New Mexico’s Compassionate Use Act [N.M. Stat. Ann. § 26–2B–1 et seq.] is the functional equivalent...

New Mexico: Health Care Provider’s “Certification” of Medical Marijuana is Functional Equivalent of Prescription for Injured Worker New Mexico: Health Care Provider’s “Certification” of Medical Marijuana is Functional Equivalent of Prescription for Injured Worker
Jan 19, 2015

South Carolina Supreme Court Adopts What Amounts to Positional Risk Standard in Slip and Fall Cases

The Supreme Court of South Carolina, reversing the state court of appeals, recently held that an office worker who sustained injuries when she fell as she walked down an unobstructed,...

South Carolina Supreme Court Adopts What Amounts to Positional Risk Standard in Slip and Fall Cases South Carolina Supreme Court Adopts What Amounts to Positional Risk Standard in Slip and Fall Cases
Jan 13, 2015

Kentucky High Court Splits in Case Involving Personal Comfort Doctrine

In a split decision dealing with the application of the personal comfort doctrine described in Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 21.01, et seq., a majority of the Supreme Court of...

Kentucky High Court Splits in Case Involving Personal Comfort Doctrine Kentucky High Court Splits in Case Involving Personal Comfort Doctrine