A New York appellate court recently affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that ruled that the death of claimant’s husband was not causally related to his employment...
New York: No Death Benefits Awarded Where Work-Related Heart Attack Occurred 24 Years Earlier New York: No Death Benefits Awarded Where Work-Related Heart Attack Occurred 24 Years EarlierThe Court of Appeals of Kentucky recently affirmed an award of death benefits to the administratrix of the estate of a deceased convenience store worker (“Pendleton”) who was found after...
Kentucky: Convenience Store Worker’s Access to Premises and Security Codes Provides Causal Link Between His Murder and the Employment Kentucky: Convenience Store Worker’s Access to Premises and Security Codes Provides Causal Link Between His Murder and the EmploymentA 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 CompensableConstruing 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 InfectionAffirming a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that had denied benefits to a restaurant host/waiter who injured his esophagus while attempting to swallow a bite of quesadilla that...
VA: Virginia Court Mischaracterizes “Actual Risk” Test in Determining Legal Causation, Yet Offers Motherly Advice: “Waiters, Take Small Bites!” VA: Virginia Court Mischaracterizes “Actual Risk” Test in Determining Legal Causation, Yet Offers Motherly Advice: “Waiters, Take Small Bites!”The Supreme Court of Missouri, in a split decision, construing the state’s version of the “increased-risk” doctrine, on Tuesday (May 29) reversed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to an...
Missouri: Divided Supreme Court Reverses Award of Benefits to Employee Injured Making Coffee for Herself and Others in the Office Kitchen Missouri: Divided Supreme Court Reverses Award of Benefits to Employee Injured Making Coffee for Herself and Others in the Office KitchenIt is axiomatic in workers’ compensation law that a subsequent injury, whether an aggravation of the original injury or a new and distinct injury, is compensable if it is the...
Texas Widow Prevails In Death Claim Case By Showing Husband’s Drug Overdose Could Have Been Caused By Side Effects of Prescription Pain Medication Texas Widow Prevails In Death Claim Case By Showing Husband’s Drug Overdose Could Have Been Caused By Side Effects of Prescription Pain MedicationIn yesterday’s post, I pointed out the difficulty courts (and not a few practitioners) have had with a specific form of neutral risk–those in which an employee falls while walking...
Virginia Court Affirms Denial of Benefits Related to Unexplained Fall In Spite of Evidence That Claimant’s Step From Truck Was Larger Than Normal Staircase Distance Virginia Court Affirms Denial of Benefits Related to Unexplained Fall In Spite of Evidence That Claimant’s Step From Truck Was Larger Than Normal Staircase DistanceThere’s nothing like an employee’s unexplained fall while walking on a level, unobstructed floor to test one’s position on the positional risk doctrine in workers’ compensation claims. As was noted...
North Dakota Supreme Court Refuses to Adopt Positional Risk Doctrine in Unexplained Fall Cases North Dakota Supreme Court Refuses to Adopt Positional Risk Doctrine in Unexplained Fall CasesA worker, who lost the use of his legs in 1965 in a work-related accident, and who was thereafter confined to a wheelchair, is not entitled to additional workers compensation...
Ohio: Trauma Induced Stroke Sustained In Fall From Wheelchair Is Not Compensable Aggravation of Original Injury Ohio: Trauma Induced Stroke Sustained In Fall From Wheelchair Is Not Compensable Aggravation of Original InjuryAn 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”In a split decision, the Arkansas Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that an injured worker failed to rebut the statutory presumption that...
Arkansas Court Affirms Denial of Benefits; Explosion Caused By Worker’s Marijuana Use Arkansas Court Affirms Denial of Benefits; Explosion Caused By Worker’s Marijuana Use