MT Court Takes Common Sense Path in Concurrent Employment Injury Claim

NY Claimant Entitled to Marked Permanent Disability Award Instead of SLU Award

Construing the N.Y. Workers’ Compensation Guidelines for Determining Impairment, a state appellate court affirmed a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board that held an injured employee’s foot injury was not...

MT Court Weighs Difficult AWW Issues in Concurrent Employment Claim

In a decision that illustrates the tender balance attempted in state Workers’ Compensation Acts between fairness to the injured employee and fairness to the employer and/or carrier, the Workers’ Compensation...

Iowa Court Affirms PPD Award Where Effects of Knee Injury Extended Beyond the Leg

Stressing that a claimant’s “injury” and “impairment” are not necessarily equivalents, an Iowa appellate court affirmed a determination that an injured worker was entitled to permanent partial disability benefits; he...

NY High Court Says Claimant’s Estate Due Only Portion of Posthumous SLU Award

The Court of Appeals of New York, construing N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 15(4)(d), which generally limits recovery by a claimant’s estate to an amount not exceeding reasonable funeral expenses...

MS Court Reiterates Claimant May Qualify for PPD Benefits in Spite of Increased Earnings

The Court of Appeals of Mississippi affirmed a decision of the state's Workers' Compensation Commission that found an injured worker was entitled to PPD benefits of $81.38 per week for...

Nevada Firefighter Due PPD Benefits For Cancer Diagnosed After Retirement

A county firefighter, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years after his retirement, and who had been given a 40 percent disability rating, was entitled to PPD benefits based...

Divided NY Appellate Court Finds Claimant's Need of Surgery Insufficient to Show Worsening Condition

In a divided decision, a New York appellate court recently affirmed a Board determination that a claimant, who had earlier been awarded PPD benefits and whose condition apparently worsened so...

Absent Finding of Partial Disability, NY Claimant Need Not Show Attachment to Labor Market

A New York appellate court held yesterday that where an employer raised the issue of labor market attachment at a hearing on the claim and the WCLJ did not make...

Ohio Claimant’s Vision Loss May Not Be Judged Merely by Snellen Fraction Differentials

In order to establish entitlement to an award for permanent partial loss of sight under Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.57(B), a workers’ compensation claimant must submit medical evidence showing the...

NY Court: “Attachment to Labor Market” Amendment Not Always Applied Retroactively

The 2017 amendment to N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 15(3)(w), which relieves some permanently partially disabled claimants of the obligation to show labor market attachment, does not apply retroactively in all...

Oklahoma High Court OKs Use of “Current Edition” of AMA Guides

Conflict with PA’s Protz Decision is Only on the Surface The sections of Oklahoma’s Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act (AWCA) that require use of the “current edition” of the AMA’s Guides...