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”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?Last week, I was very pleased to be a part of an Orlando, Florida risk management conference sponsored by Artex Risk Solutions. Along with two good friends and colleagues, Rebecca...
Bariatric Surgery: Is it a Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefit? Bariatric Surgery: Is it a Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefit?The great majority of jurisdictions that have dealt with the issue, either by decision or statute, recognize the tort of retaliatory discharge for filing a workers compensation claim [see Larson’s...
Employers Face Possible Liability in “Pretaliatory” Discharge Cases Employers Face Possible Liability in “Pretaliatory” Discharge CasesUnder workers’ compensation law’s so-called “going and coming” rule, for an employee having fixed hours and place of work, injuries sustained en route to or from the workplace are generally...
Illinois: Workers’ Comp’s “Traveling Employee” Rule May Not Be Expanded to Tort Arena Illinois: Workers’ Comp’s “Traveling Employee” Rule May Not Be Expanded to Tort ArenaSome years ago, my mentor, Arthur Larson, when commenting upon the issue of deviations within the workplace, wrote that courts generally recognize “that human beings do not run on tracks...
Pennsylvania: 5-Minute Deviation Defeated Workers’ Comp Claim Pennsylvania: 5-Minute Deviation Defeated Workers’ Comp ClaimEggshell Skulls There’s a rule most of us learned early on in the first semester of Torts in law school: that there is ordinarily no allowance for an already weakened...
Note to Employers and Carriers: Don’t Give Up Too Early in Cases Involving Preexisting Disease or Condition Note to Employers and Carriers: Don’t Give Up Too Early in Cases Involving Preexisting Disease or ConditionOn Tuesday (May 7), Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law Senate Bill 1062, a legislative piece that purports to reform the state’s workers’ compensation system in two broad fashions:...
Oklahoma: Workers’ Compensation “Opt-Out” Provisions Become Law Oklahoma: Workers’ Compensation “Opt-Out” Provisions Become LawAs I’ve mentioned in my last several posts, a bit more than a week ago, I enjoyed being part of three panel discussions at the 21st Annual National Workers’ Compensation...
Getting Hurt “On the Job” Getting Hurt “On the Job”With one justice dissenting, the Supreme Court of Texas recently held that in a bad faith action brought by an injured employee against a workers’ compensation insurer, the attorney—client privilege...
Texas: Communication by Comp Carrier’s Counsel to Insured Employer Not Protected by Attorney—Client Privilege Texas: Communication by Comp Carrier’s Counsel to Insured Employer Not Protected by Attorney—Client PrivilegeWhat’s In a Number? Two years ago, when I got my current cell phone, the cell phone company randomly assigned my new number. I looked at the sticker on the...
Worker Claims He Was Fired For Refusing to Wear Safety Program’s “Mark of the Beast” Worker Claims He Was Fired For Refusing to Wear Safety Program’s “Mark of the Beast”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 Law