Stressing that an Arkansas appellate court must defer to the state Commission’s findings of credibility and its resolution of conflicting evidence, even though it is the administrative law judge —...
Arkansas Worker Fails to Show Injury Was Not “Substantially Occasioned” by Marijuana Use Arkansas Worker Fails to Show Injury Was Not “Substantially Occasioned” by Marijuana UseAs is the rule in many jurisdictions [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 7.04], New York provides a presumption of compensability for accidents occurring during the course of employment which...
“Substantial” Evidence, Not Just “Some” Evidence Required to Rebut NY Presumption Regarding Unwitnessed Injuries “Substantial” Evidence, Not Just “Some” Evidence Required to Rebut NY Presumption Regarding Unwitnessed InjuriesR.I. Gen. Laws § 45-19.1-1 (1956) does not create a conclusive presumption that cancer in firefighters arises out of and in the course of the employment, held a divided Supreme...
Divided Rhode Island Supreme Court Nixes Conclusive Cancer Presumptions for Firefighters Divided Rhode Island Supreme Court Nixes Conclusive Cancer Presumptions for FirefightersWhere an Expert Medical Advisor (EMA) clearly indicated in his report that a claimant had not reached MMI because of the claimant’s need for future surgery, it was error for...
Florida JCC May Not Ignore Clear Opinion of Expert Medical Advisor Florida JCC May Not Ignore Clear Opinion of Expert Medical AdvisorYesterday (October 1, 2019), the Court of Appeals of Mississippi affirmed an award of death benefits to the surviving dependents of a hospital material-management technician who was found dead in...
Mississippi Employer Fails to Rebut Presumption That Employee’s Unwitnessed Death was Work-Related Mississippi Employer Fails to Rebut Presumption That Employee’s Unwitnessed Death was Work-RelatedReverses Lower Court That Disallowed TD Benefits Since Firefighter Had No Lost Wages Earlier today, reversing a late 2017 decision of the state’s Appellate Division [see my earlier discussion of...
NJ Supreme Court Says Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Deserves Temporary Disability Benefits NJ Supreme Court Says Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter Deserves Temporary Disability BenefitsRules of Evidence Do Not Strictly Apply to Comp Hearings Stressing that in workers’ compensation hearings, the Kansas Rules of Evidence do not apply and that even hearsay evidence may...
Divided Kansas Court Says Lab Test Results Showing Marijuana Were Admissible Divided Kansas Court Says Lab Test Results Showing Marijuana Were Admissible“White Coat” Syndrome Could Explain Isolated Reading As do a number of states, Florida provides a specialized presumption of compensability favoring certain law enforcement officers [see § 112.18(1), Fla. Stat.]....
Florida: Abnormal Pre-Employment BP Reading Does Not Mean Loss of Presumption of Compensability Florida: Abnormal Pre-Employment BP Reading Does Not Mean Loss of Presumption of CompensabilityWhere the opinion offered by an employee’s medical expert merely disagreed with the medical impairment registry (MIR) physician’s findings, yet did not show how that the MIR physician had used...
Disagreement Does Not Equal Clear and Convincing Evidence That Tennessee MIR Physician’s Opinion was Wrong Disagreement Does Not Equal Clear and Convincing Evidence That Tennessee MIR Physician’s Opinion was WrongA Florida appellate court ruled that a state judge of compensation claims erred when the JCC awarded benefits to a correctional officer under the state’s Heart-Lung statute, which generally provides...
Florida Correctional Department Successfully Rebuts Heart-Lung Presumption Florida Correctional Department Successfully Rebuts Heart-Lung PresumptionAcknowledging that N.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 21 provides a presumption of compensability where the decedent’s initial injury occurs while he or she at work, a New York appellate court...
New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not Compensable New York Deputy Sheriff’s Fatal Heart Attack at Home is Not CompensableThe Court of Appeals of Virginia recently reiterated that in order to defeat a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, it is not enough to show that an employee was intoxicated...
Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case Virginia Employer Proves Employee Was Intoxicated, But Still Loses Case