A Virginia part-time employee, who was able to work without restrictions for three months, following a work-related injury, and who then was “taken off work” by his cardiologist because of...
Virginia Worker’s Post-Injury Decision to be “Off-Work” Due to COVID-19 Sinks TTD Claim Virginia Worker’s Post-Injury Decision to be “Off-Work” Due to COVID-19 Sinks TTD ClaimIn an unusual case in which a surviving spouse claimed that her husband’s death from a heart attack had been caused by his three-week exposure to radar beams at work,...
Virginia Widow Loses Death From Radar Beams Claim Virginia Widow Loses Death From Radar Beams ClaimIn a decision not designated for publication, a Virginia appellate court affirmed a finding of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that an injured employee’s work-related accident had caused only a...
Half of Virginia Claimant’s PPD Apportioned to Pre-Existing Condition Half of Virginia Claimant’s PPD Apportioned to Pre-Existing ConditionConstruing Virginia’s intentional violation of a known safety rule statute [Va. Code § 65.2-306(A)], a state appellate court affirmed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to an employee who sustained...
Virginia Claimant Did Not Violate Known Safety Rule in Connection with Injury Virginia Claimant Did Not Violate Known Safety Rule in Connection with InjuryA Virginia appellate court, yet again reiterating the state’s version of the “actual risk rule” [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 3.04] affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation...
Virginia Worker’s Fall on Workplace Steps is Not Compensable Virginia Worker’s Fall on Workplace Steps is Not CompensableApplying Virginia’s “actual risk” doctrine, which generally holds that simple acts of walking, bending, turning, or even climbing stairs–without proof of any other contributing environmental factors–are not risks of employment,...
Virginia Court Sticks to its “Actual Risk” Doctrine Virginia Court Sticks to its “Actual Risk” DoctrineReversing an earlier decision of the state’s Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Virginia held that the phrase “injury by accident” linked two discrete concepts—an injury and an accident—that...
Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Lower Court's Attempt to Clarify "Sudden Mechanical or Structural Change" Rule Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Lower Court's Attempt to Clarify "Sudden Mechanical or Structural Change" RuleIn a decision that is likely to raise some eyebrows, a divided Supreme Court of Virginia, affirming an earlier decision by a lower appellate court, held that an injured employee’s...
Virginia High Court Says Permanent Impairment Computed Before, Not After, Hip Replacement Surgery Virginia High Court Says Permanent Impairment Computed Before, Not After, Hip Replacement SurgeryApplying Virginia’s so-called “actual risk test,” a state appellate court affirmed a decision by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission that had denied benefits to a school security officer who fell...
Virginia School Guard’s Injuries Allegedly Caused by Wind Were Not Compensable Virginia School Guard’s Injuries Allegedly Caused by Wind Were Not CompensableVa. Code § 65.2-306(A)(4) bars workers’ compensation claims for injuries that, inter alia, result from a claimant’s willful misconduct in refusing “to perform a duty required by statute.” In that...
Failure to Wear Seatbelt Proves Fatal to Virginia Driver’s Claim Failure to Wear Seatbelt Proves Fatal to Virginia Driver’s Claim