Reversing the state’s Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that an employee who filed a claim under the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act, must authorize her treating...
Georgia: Claimant Required to Consent to Ex Parte Communications Between Treating Physician and Employer or Employer’s Representative Georgia: Claimant Required to Consent to Ex Parte Communications Between Treating Physician and Employer or Employer’s RepresentativeAn Arizona appellate court recently held, as a matter of law, that a workers’ compensation claimant who expressed an intention to record an independent medical examination (“IME”), in the absence...
Arizona: Carrier May Not Suspend Benefits Where Claimant Indicates IME Will Be Recorded Arizona: Carrier May Not Suspend Benefits Where Claimant Indicates IME Will Be RecordedUnder the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA”), no compensation is payable “if the injury was occasioned solely by the intoxication of the employee” [see 33 U.S.C. § 903(c)]....
LHWCA: Ninth Circuit Agrees that Injury Was Caused By Intoxication, Not Concrete and Metal Slab Onto Which Claimant Fell LHWCA: Ninth Circuit Agrees that Injury Was Caused By Intoxication, Not Concrete and Metal Slab Onto Which Claimant FellIn what will likely be one of the last cases to be heard under Oklahoma’s court-crafted version of the “substantially certain” rule [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 103.04[2][e]] that...
Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” Case Oklahoma: Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in “Substantially Certain” CaseLast week, at the 21st Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference® & Expo, in Las Vegas, I was happy to be part of a panel discussion regarding the “Future...
Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity Defense Indiana: Recent Decision Shows the General Strength of the Exclusivity DefenseA New York appellate court, in Martinez v. Lefrak City Mngmt., 2012 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7330 (3rd Dept., Nov. 8, 2012), recently affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’...
New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability Rights New York: Failure to Disclose Injury in Professional Boxing Match Causes Forfeiture of Future Disability RightsA New York appellate court recently agreed with the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that the death of a grocery store employee was causally related to the employment where evidence showed...
New York: Extraordinary Duties at Grocery Store on Super Bowl Sunday Mean Employee’s Death is Compensable New York: Extraordinary Duties at Grocery Store on Super Bowl Sunday Mean Employee’s Death is CompensableThe Court of Appeals of Iowa, in Carter v. Alter Trading Corp., 2012 Iowa App. LEXIS 879 (Oct. 17, 2012), applying the state’s “equitable” apportionment of workers’ compensation death benefits...
Iowa: Court Approves “Uneven” Split of Death Benefits Between American and Honduran Dependents of Deceased Undocumented Worker Iowa: Court Approves “Uneven” Split of Death Benefits Between American and Honduran Dependents of Deceased Undocumented WorkerBecause an injured worker offered no evidence, other than her own testimony, that her gastric bypass surgery had been beneficial to her work-related injury, it was error to find the...
Iowa: Court Finds Evidence Does Not Support Requiring Employer to Bear Expense of Gastric Bypass Surgery Iowa: Court Finds Evidence Does Not Support Requiring Employer to Bear Expense of Gastric Bypass SurgeryIn a recent decision by the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, Hilgart v. 210 Mittel Drive Partnership, 2012 Ill. App. LEXIS 850 (Oct. 17, 2012), the court held that...
Illinois: Injured Employee’s “Dual Capacity/Dual Persona” Claim Against Corporate Officers of Employer Fails Illinois: Injured Employee’s “Dual Capacity/Dual Persona” Claim Against Corporate Officers of Employer FailsConstruing Florida’s “Firefighter’s Presumption” [see § 112.18(1), Fla. Stat.], in Walters v. State, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 17887 (1st Dist., Oct. 16, 2012), a state appellate court recently reversed a...
Florida: “Firefighter’s Presumption” Aids Corrections Officer’s Heart Disease Claim Related to Unknown Virus Infection Florida: “Firefighter’s Presumption” Aids Corrections Officer’s Heart Disease Claim Related to Unknown Virus InfectionA federal district court, sitting in Iowa, recently granted an employer’s motion to dismiss an action filed against it by a worker who had asserted that he had been injured...
US: Injured Employee May Not Sue Insured Iowa Employer For Bad Faith Failure to Pay Workers’ Comp Claim US: Injured Employee May Not Sue Insured Iowa Employer For Bad Faith Failure to Pay Workers’ Comp Claim