“Danger invites rescue,” wrote Judge Benjamin Cordozo in his typical profound and pithy manner [see Wagner v. International Railway, 232 N.Y. 176, 133 N.E. 437 (1921)]. Cordozo’s pronouncement is generally...
New Hampshire Court Limits Firefighter’s Rule–Slip and Fall Action by Firefighter May Continue Against Homeowner New Hampshire Court Limits Firefighter’s Rule–Slip and Fall Action by Firefighter May Continue Against HomeownerA Special Workers’ Compensation Panel of the Supreme Court of Tennessee recently affirmed a judgment of a trial court that found a worker, a registered nurse, to be permanently and...
Tennessee: Combination of Injury and Cocktail of Medications to Treat Nurse’s Continuing Symptoms Equates to Permanent and Total Disability Award Tennessee: Combination of Injury and Cocktail of Medications to Treat Nurse’s Continuing Symptoms Equates to Permanent and Total Disability AwardIt has long been held that an injured employee should not be allowed to keep the entire amount of his or her workers’ compensation award and also the full common-law...
Federal District Court Grants Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence of Workers’ Comp Benefits Received By Plaintiff Federal District Court Grants Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence of Workers’ Comp Benefits Received By PlaintiffOne of the important axioms of workers’ compensation law is that, generally, the employer takes the employee as it finds that employee [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 9.02]. That...
Six-Day Delay in Getting Offshore Worker Medical Treatment For Stroke Supports Aggravation Claim Under Longshore Act Six-Day Delay in Getting Offshore Worker Medical Treatment For Stroke Supports Aggravation Claim Under Longshore ActUntil a number of my high school classmates began to plan our 40th reunion gala several years ago, I had successfully avoided Facebook® and the other social media (I’m still...
Facebook Party Pics Help Defeat Worker’s Claim for Benefits Facebook Party Pics Help Defeat Worker’s Claim for BenefitsIn the great majority of jurisdictions, voluntary intoxication that renders an employee incapable of performing his or her work is a departure from the course of employment sufficient to defeat...
In Spite of Statutory Presumptions, Proof of Positive Drug Test May Not Be Enough to Defeat Claims In Spite of Statutory Presumptions, Proof of Positive Drug Test May Not Be Enough to Defeat ClaimsAn Ohio appellate court recently found that medical evidence presented in a death claim case was too speculative to support the required causal connection between a worker’s fatal heart attack...
Ohio: Cautious Medical Testimony Dooms Death Benefits Claim Related to “Poster Child for Heart Disease” Ohio: Cautious Medical Testimony Dooms Death Benefits Claim Related to “Poster Child for Heart Disease”Virtually every jurisdiction’s comp act has a “by accident” provision of some sort in its definition of compensable injury [for an extended discussion, see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 42.01,...
“By Accident,” the Oft-Ignored Provision in Workers’ Compensation Law “By Accident,” the Oft-Ignored Provision in Workers’ Compensation LawA Pennsylvania nurse assistant, who claimed she suffered emotional distress when she was fired for getting pregnant, may not pursue her tort claim against the former employer in federal court,...
Nurse Assistant’s Allegations That She Was Fired For Getting Pregnant Cannot Support Emotional Distress Claim Against Former Employer Nurse Assistant’s Allegations That She Was Fired For Getting Pregnant Cannot Support Emotional Distress Claim Against Former EmployerLast Thursday, a New York appellate court recently affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that had determined that a worker’s death was causally related to his employment...
New York: Apportionment Not Available Between Work-Related Asbestosis and Non-Work-Related Thyroid Cancer in Death Benefits Case New York: Apportionment Not Available Between Work-Related Asbestosis and Non-Work-Related Thyroid Cancer in Death Benefits CaseRecognizing that no matter how competent and reasonable a commission or board’s determination of a claimant’s medical condition and level of disability might be at the time of a hearing,...
Virginia Court: Removal of Ankle Prosthesis, Without its Replacement, Does Not Trigger Reopening Statute Virginia Court: Removal of Ankle Prosthesis, Without its Replacement, Does Not Trigger Reopening StatuteLast Wednesday, a Georgia appellate court, holding the State Board of Workers’ Compensation had utilized an “erroneous theory” regarding what conduct constitutes a deviation from employment that will bar compensation...
Georgia Appellate Court: Effort to Stop Runaway Car is Not a Deviation From the Employment Georgia Appellate Court: Effort to Stop Runaway Car is Not a Deviation From the Employment