Reiterating the Minnesota rule that so-called “mental-mental” injuries–mental injuries associated with mental stimulus, as opposed to physical stimulus–are not compensable and that it is for the state’s legislature, and not...
Minnesota High Court Says PTSD is No “Brain Injury” Minnesota High Court Says PTSD is No “Brain Injury”Within the workers’ compensation arena, it is axiomatic that the medical consequences and sequelae that flow from the primary injury are themselves compensable. [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 10.01]....
Benign Neglect: Can Failure to Follow Doctor’s Advice Be Fatal to Injured Worker’s Claim? Benign Neglect: Can Failure to Follow Doctor’s Advice Be Fatal to Injured Worker’s Claim?Each year I read–or at least scan–more than 1,500 workers’ compensation cases that make the appellate reporter system around the nation. As large as that number sounds, it’s really fewer...
Compromise and Settlement: May An Employer Include a Penalty Clause to Ward Off Further Vexatious Claims? Compromise and Settlement: May An Employer Include a Penalty Clause to Ward Off Further Vexatious Claims?The Supreme Court of Ohio, reversing an earlier decision by an intermediate appellate court, recently affirmed the state Industrial Commission’s denial of a loss of vision and hearing claim under...
Ohio: Comatose Injured Worker’s Additional Claim for Loss of Vision and Hearing Fails Ohio: Comatose Injured Worker’s Additional Claim for Loss of Vision and Hearing FailsIn Potier v. Acadian Ambulance Serv., Inc., 2014 La. App. LEXIS 347 (February 12, 2014), a Louisiana appellate court recently affirmed a decision by a state workers’ compensation judge that...
Louisiana: Mileage Payment Does Not Bring EMT’s Travel Within the Employment; Going and Coming Rule Bars Claim Louisiana: Mileage Payment Does Not Bring EMT’s Travel Within the Employment; Going and Coming Rule Bars ClaimN.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 11 bars third-party lawsuits for contribution and indemnification against an injured employee’s employer unless either (a) the employee suffered a “grave injury,” limited to death...
NY: Employer Does Not Lose Exclusivity Defense in Contribution/Indemnification Case Because Employee was Undocumented Alien NY: Employer Does Not Lose Exclusivity Defense in Contribution/Indemnification Case Because Employee was Undocumented AlienIndicating that in New York there were two requisites for reopening a claim based on newly acquired evidence: (a) the application to reopen “must be made within a reasonable time...
NY Court: No Reopening Allowed in Established Claim re: Murdered Employee NY Court: No Reopening Allowed in Established Claim re: Murdered EmployeeIn a decision showing just how strongly the state’s workers’ compensation system separates the “arising out of” the employment component of the compensation formula from the “course of employment” component,...
Idaho Shoe Lace Causes Compensable Herniated Disc Idaho Shoe Lace Causes Compensable Herniated DiscThe exclusive remedy provision of Tex. Lab. Code Ann. § 408.001(a) does not apply to health care providers, held a Texas appellate court recently, in Hand & Wrist Center of...
Texas Exclusive Remedy Provision Does Not Apply to Health Care Providers Texas Exclusive Remedy Provision Does Not Apply to Health Care ProvidersA Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance ruling–later upheld by a state trial court–that a company was not liable for additional workers’ compensation insurance premiums related to the earnings of...
Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp Premiums Tennessee: Appellate Court Says Compensation Paid to Independent Contractors Should Have Been Considered in Computing Insured’s Comp PremiumsConstruing La. Rev. Stat. § 23:1032, which generally provides that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy of an employee injured within the course and scope of the employment unless the...
US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is Difficult US: Establishing “Substantial Certainty” in Intentional Tort Cases is DifficultReversing a decision by the state’s court of appeals, the Supreme Court of South Carolina recently held that direct evidence supported the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s original determination that a certified...
South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor South Carolina Supreme Court Says Nurse Anesthetist Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor