Decision Calls Into Question Whether Per Diem Fines to Uninsured Employers Are Unconstitutionally Harsh The Supreme Court of Colorado, with one justice dissenting in part, recently held that the Eighth...
Colorado High Court Says 8th Amendment’s “Excessive Fines” Prohibition Protects Corporations, as Well as Individuals Colorado High Court Says 8th Amendment’s “Excessive Fines” Prohibition Protects Corporations, as Well as IndividualsCommentary: Is the Workers’ Compensation World Ready for Amazon’s New Package Delivery Business Model? The Answer Might Surprise You! As I drove to a meeting in downtown Durham a few...
Amazon’s New “Last-Mile” Delivery Service: Who “Employs” that Driver-Deliverer at Your Door? Amazon’s New “Last-Mile” Delivery Service: Who “Employs” that Driver-Deliverer at Your Door?Yesterday, I had an interesting e-mail exchange with a blog subscriber who wanted my take on the compensability of injuries resulting from Acts of God, specifically, tornadoes and and lightning...
Tornadoes and other “Acts of God”: When Are Weather-Related Injuries Compensable? Tornadoes and other “Acts of God”: When Are Weather-Related Injuries Compensable?Recent Decisions Reach Opposite Conclusions in Dog-Tripping Incidents According to a recent report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as many as 22 percent of the American labor force...
Home-Based Workers: Beware of Four-Legged “Best Friends” Home-Based Workers: Beware of Four-Legged “Best Friends”Opinion Raises as Many Questions as It Answers Last Thursday (March 7), the Supreme Court of New Hampshire handed down a decision that reversed, in pertinent part, a state Appeals...
NH High Court Issues Ruling on Medical Marijuana for Injured Worker—Sort of NH High Court Issues Ruling on Medical Marijuana for Injured Worker—Sort ofIn an ancient decision (one year older than me), Day v. Day, 216 S.C. 334, 58 S.E.2d 83 (1950), the Supreme Court of South Carolina, reflecting the general moral mindset...
South Carolina: In Dependency Case, Commission May Not Presume “Fornication” Occurred South Carolina: In Dependency Case, Commission May Not Presume “Fornication” OccurredIn the Foreword of our forthcoming Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis, 6th Edition [LexisNexis], due out in a few weeks, I note that in contrast to 2017, this year has...
2018’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Cases 2018’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation CasesJettisoning the Bath Water—Does the Baby Remain? As someone who has, for the past 32 years, earned the bulk of his living reading—I’ll admit, often only skimming—some 2,500 appellate decisions...
Recent Kansas AMA Guides Decision: Would the Court Prefer a Fault-Based System? Recent Kansas AMA Guides Decision: Would the Court Prefer a Fault-Based System?There are some who point out that LeBron is getting ready to pay the highest taxes in his life (with a $154 million contract, he can afford it), that he...
The Real Reason LeBron is Moving to the Lakers! The Real Reason LeBron is Moving to the Lakers!What Does Florida Have Against Teachers and Bartenders? As I posted Monday [click here to view that post], a bill to extend relatively broad PTSD coverage to Florida’s first responders...
Commentary: How Equitable is Florida’s New PTSD Coverage? Commentary: How Equitable is Florida’s New PTSD Coverage?Earlier this month, the Florida Senate and House both unanimously passed Senate Bill 376, so as generally to allow workers’ compensation benefits for first responders who suffer PTSD as a...
Florida Legislature Approves PTSD Coverage for First Responders Florida Legislature Approves PTSD Coverage for First RespondersRecent Air Ambulance Decisions Hint that McCarran-Ferguson Insurance Barrier to Federal Involvement in Workers’ Comp May Be Decaying Two recent court decisions, one from Texas [PHI Air Med., LLC v....
Is the Wall Strong Enough? Is the Wall Strong Enough?