Category: Case comment

Apr 7, 2017

Arbitrator’s Decision in PA Heart and Lung Hearing is Not Binding on Workers’ Compensation Judge

While issue preclusion generally applies to the decisions of Workers’ Compensation Boards and Commissions, just as it does generally to court decisions [see, e.g., Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 127.07],...

Arbitrator’s Decision in PA Heart and Lung Hearing is Not Binding on Workers’ Compensation Judge Arbitrator’s Decision in PA Heart and Lung Hearing is Not Binding on Workers’ Compensation Judge
Apr 6, 2017

Employer Not Prejudiced by Lack of Formal Notice When Supervisor Witnessed the Employee’s Injury

Where a highway construction worker, who had completed a strenuous shift of work on a hot summer day, lost consciousness, and fell to the ground in the presence of his...

Employer Not Prejudiced by Lack of Formal Notice When Supervisor Witnessed the Employee’s Injury Employer Not Prejudiced by Lack of Formal Notice When Supervisor Witnessed the Employee’s Injury
Apr 5, 2017

New York: Nurse’s Stress Claim Tied to Bona Fide Personnel Decision is Not Compensable

Where a registered nurse claimed that she sustained work-related injuries consisting of insomnia, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and severe social phobia when she was wrongfully terminated, reinstated, and then...

New York: Nurse’s Stress Claim Tied to Bona Fide Personnel Decision is Not Compensable New York: Nurse’s Stress Claim Tied to Bona Fide Personnel Decision is Not Compensable
Apr 4, 2017

New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not Compensable

Acknowledging that N.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 21 provides a presumption of compensability where the decedent’s initial injury occurs while he or she at work, a New York appellate court...

New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not Compensable New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not Compensable
Mar 15, 2017

Employer-Provided Motel Room Insufficient to Transform Georgia Worker into Traveling Employee

Reiterating that Georgia Superior Courts are required to give appropriate deference to the factual findings of the Appellate Division of the Board of Workers’ Compensation, the Court of Appeals of...

Employer-Provided Motel Room Insufficient to Transform Georgia Worker into Traveling Employee Employer-Provided Motel Room Insufficient to Transform Georgia Worker into Traveling Employee
Mar 14, 2017

Worker’s Fall Was Not Idiopathic, in Spite of Opinion Offered by IME

In an unpublished decision, an Arizona appellate court found that the evidence in the record supported an ALJ’s award of workers’ compensation benefits to an office worker who sustained a...

Worker’s Fall Was Not Idiopathic, in Spite of Opinion Offered by IME Worker’s Fall Was Not Idiopathic, in Spite of Opinion Offered by IME
Mar 13, 2017

Airport Luggage Transport Driver Recovers Under Personal Comfort Doctrine

A Pittsburgh International Airport airport employee, whose job consisted of driving a luggage transport “tug,” and who sustained serious injuries when she flipped her tug as she traveled to one...

Airport Luggage Transport Driver Recovers Under Personal Comfort Doctrine Airport Luggage Transport Driver Recovers Under Personal Comfort Doctrine
Mar 13, 2017

“Fore”: Country Club Locker Room Attendant Struck in Groin by Golf Club Shaft May Sue Co-Employee

A locker room attendant at a Queensbury country club, who had his left testicle surgically removed following a bizarre incident in which the attendant was struck in the groin by...

“Fore”: Country Club Locker Room Attendant Struck in Groin by Golf Club Shaft May Sue Co-Employee “Fore”: Country Club Locker Room Attendant Struck in Groin by Golf Club Shaft May Sue Co-Employee
Mar 9, 2017

S.C. Supreme Court Says Return to Work Insufficient to Rebut Presumption of PTD Where Impairment to Back is Greater Than 50 Percent

Yesterday, in a divided decision, the Supreme Court of South Carolina, overruling an earlier decision of the state’s Court of Appeals, held that evidence of subsequent employment is insufficient by...

S.C. Supreme Court Says Return to Work Insufficient to Rebut Presumption of PTD Where Impairment to Back is Greater Than 50 Percent S.C. Supreme Court Says Return to Work Insufficient to Rebut Presumption of PTD Where Impairment to Back is Greater Than 50 Percent
Mar 2, 2017

Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case

The Court of Appeals of Virginia recently reiterated that in order to defeat a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, it is not enough to show that an employee was intoxicated...

Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case
Mar 1, 2017

$841,200 Fine Against Small Colorado Employer Was Unconstitutionally Excessive

While upholding the facial constitutionality of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 8–43–409, which provides for the imposition of fines against certain employers that fail to maintain workers’ compensation insurance, a Colorado...

$841,200 Fine Against Small Colorado Employer Was Unconstitutionally Excessive $841,200 Fine Against Small Colorado Employer Was Unconstitutionally Excessive
Mar 1, 2017

Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies “Willful Misconduct” Doctrine

Reversing a decision of the state’s Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Georgia, in Telecom v. Burdette, 2017 Ga. LEXIS 103 (Feb. 27, 2017), held that while the mere...

Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies “Willful Misconduct” Doctrine Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies “Willful Misconduct” Doctrine