As you may know, later this month (Nov. 20–22), attorneys, academics, claims managers, risk consultants, and others will gather at the 22nd Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference &...
“Mental-Mental” Claims: Within Which Category Does West Virginia Fall? “Mental-Mental” Claims: Within Which Category Does West Virginia Fall?Reluctantly affirming a decision by a Judge of Compensation Claims that had awarded claimant’s counsel an attorney’s fee of only $164.54 for 107.2 hours of legal work reasonably necessary to...
Florida: First DCA Certifies Constitutional Question After Affirming $165 Fee for 107 Hours of Work Florida: First DCA Certifies Constitutional Question After Affirming $165 Fee for 107 Hours of WorkWhile Scripture may say, “Physician, heal thyself” [Luke 4:23, King James Version], that advice should apparently be avoided by professors of rehabilitation counseling. In a case replete with irony, the...
Virginia: Self-Treatment by Rehab Professor Nixes Benefits for Subsequent Injuries Virginia: Self-Treatment by Rehab Professor Nixes Benefits for Subsequent InjuriesLike every other state, Illinois has established an insolvent insurance fund–the Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund–that steps in, under appropriate circumstances, to pay claims when an insurance company authorized to transact...
Illinois: Excess Coverage Policies Enjoy Same Exclusion From Guaranty Fund “Cap” on Payment as Primary Coverage Policies Illinois: Excess Coverage Policies Enjoy Same Exclusion From Guaranty Fund “Cap” on Payment as Primary Coverage PoliciesA Pennsylvania appellate court, reversing a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, recently held that since a licensed practical nurse (LPN) was a “health care provider” under §...
Pennsylvania: Massage Therapy By LPN Held to be Compensable Expense Pennsylvania: Massage Therapy By LPN Held to be Compensable ExpenseConstruing the intentional injury exception to the exclusive remedy provisions of the Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Act [Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27–14–104(a) (LexisNexis 2013)], the state’s Supreme Court recently affirmed a...
Wyoming: Employee’s Intentional Tort Action Against Supervisors Fails Wyoming: Employee’s Intentional Tort Action Against Supervisors FailsIn Louisiana, when an employee seeks to recover workers’ compensation benefits for a heart-related or perivascular injury, he or she must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that: (i) The...
Louisiana: Boilermaker’s 39-Day Work Schedule, With One Day Off, Found to Cause Stroke Louisiana: Boilermaker’s 39-Day Work Schedule, With One Day Off, Found to Cause StrokeYesterday, the United States Supreme Court indicated that it would not hear a Montana Hutterite Colony’s argument that a 2009 amendment to a state statute [§ 39–71–307, MCA] violated the...
U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Hear Hutterite Colony’s Religious Exclusion Argument U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Hear Hutterite Colony’s Religious Exclusion ArgumentLast Friday, a divided Supreme Court of Alabama, applying the work-product rule, determined that a post-accident investigation report, conducted and prepared by an employer’s safety director and a co-worker and...
Alabama: Work-Product Rule Protects Post-Injury Accident Report from Discovery Alabama: Work-Product Rule Protects Post-Injury Accident Report from DiscoveryIn a decision officially to be released on Tuesday (October 1), the Supreme Court of Connecticut has affirmed a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Review Board that in turn...
CT: Commissioner’s Decision That Waiver of Comp Benefits Was Not Supported by Consideration Upheld by State Supreme Court CT: Commissioner’s Decision That Waiver of Comp Benefits Was Not Supported by Consideration Upheld by State Supreme CourtA divided en banc panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a decision by a three-judge panel of the same Circuit Court that had allowed a RICO...
6th Circuit Bounces RICO Suit Against Sedgwick & Coca-Cola 6th Circuit Bounces RICO Suit Against Sedgwick & Coca-ColaExtensively quoting from Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law and reiterating the state’s two-prong test to invoke the so-called “dual capacity doctrine” as an exception to the exclusive remedy provided by the...
Illinois: Wrongful Death Action Against Employer Alleging “Dual Capacity” Fails Illinois: Wrongful Death Action Against Employer Alleging “Dual Capacity” Fails