Iowa High Court: Res Judicata Principles Don’t Bar Petitions for Change of Condition

Louisiana Plaintiff’s Civil Action Against Company Barred by Workers’ Comp Settlement

A Louisiana appellate court held a plaintiff could not maintain a tort action against a defendant where the plaintiff and the defendant had settled a workers’ compensation action that involved...

NY Court Says Collateral Estoppel Bars Injured Worker’s Subsequent Negligence Action Against Defendants

A New York appellate court affirmed a decision by a state trial court that granted defendants summary judgment in a negligence action filed against them related to the alleged malfunction...

Res Judicata Does Not Bar KY Employee From Reopening Claim

Quoting Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, and stressing that the doctrine of res judicata should be applied differently in workers’ compensation cases than in the usual context of a judicial action,...

Arbitrator’s Decision in PA Heart and Lung Hearing is Not Binding on Workers’ Compensation Judge

While issue preclusion generally applies to the decisions of Workers’ Compensation Boards and Commissions, just as it does generally to court decisions [see, e.g., Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 127.07],...

Oooops! In Ruling on Collateral Estoppel Issue, What Does a Court Do if Its Earlier Decision Was Actually Wrong?

In what is likely the last few days of the current term of the United States Supreme Court, an army of prognosticators are looking up from their tea leaves into...