Month: June 2017

Jun 30, 2017

Rock and a Hard Place: Placing Injured Undocumented Worker on Unpaid Leave May Be Retaliatory Discharge

In a divided decision, the Supreme Court of Minnesota held that an injured undocumented worker had raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether an employer had discharged...

Rock and a Hard Place: Placing Injured Undocumented Worker on Unpaid Leave May Be Retaliatory Discharge Rock and a Hard Place: Placing Injured Undocumented Worker on Unpaid Leave May Be Retaliatory Discharge
Jun 29, 2017

California: Apportionment Inappropriate Where PTD Results From Medical Treatment, Not the Underlying Condition

Where a California worker developed a number of conditions during her 26-year career with her employer, including carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), which medical experts attributed 90 percent to industrial factors...

California: Apportionment Inappropriate Where PTD Results From Medical Treatment, Not the Underlying Condition California: Apportionment Inappropriate Where PTD Results From Medical Treatment, Not the Underlying Condition
Jun 22, 2017

California In-Home Caretaker Awarded Benefits for Injuries Sustained in Bicycle Accident

Observing that California’s “required vehicle” exception to the going and coming rule arises where the employee’s use of his or her own vehicle gives some incidental benefit to the employer,...

California In-Home Caretaker Awarded Benefits for Injuries Sustained in Bicycle Accident California In-Home Caretaker Awarded Benefits for Injuries Sustained in Bicycle Accident
Jun 21, 2017

Pennsylvania High Court Strikes Down Use of “Most Recent” AMA Guides

In a highly anticipated decision, Protz v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Derry Area Sch. Dist.), 2017 Pa. LEXIS 1401 (June 20, 2017), a split Supreme Court of Pennsylvania yesterday held that...

Pennsylvania High Court Strikes Down Use of “Most Recent” AMA Guides Pennsylvania High Court Strikes Down Use of “Most Recent” AMA Guides
Jun 20, 2017

Kentucky IME May Use Clinical Skill and Judgment in Construing AMA Guides

Where an independent medical evaluator concluded that the active range of motion (ROM) measurements she obtained from an injured worker were implausible, indicative of poor effort, and insufficient to verify...

Kentucky IME May Use Clinical Skill and Judgment in Construing AMA Guides Kentucky IME May Use Clinical Skill and Judgment in Construing AMA Guides
Jun 19, 2017

Ouch!: Live-in New York Domestic Worker’s Cut Finger Results in $86,000 Penalty To Employing Husband and Wife

In Matter of Castillo v Brown, 2017 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4839 (June 15, 2017), a New York appellate court affirmed the imposition of an $86,000 penalty against a husband and...

Ouch!: Live-in New York Domestic Worker’s Cut Finger Results in $86,000 Penalty To Employing Husband and Wife Ouch!: Live-in New York Domestic Worker’s Cut Finger Results in $86,000 Penalty To Employing Husband and Wife
Jun 14, 2017

New York Church Volunteer’s Personal Injury Action Barred by Exclusive Remedy Rule

A church volunteer, who contended that she suffered injuries when she tripped and fell over an exposed power cord near or on the altar as she went to help distribute...

New York Church Volunteer’s Personal Injury Action Barred by Exclusive Remedy Rule New York Church Volunteer’s Personal Injury Action Barred by Exclusive Remedy Rule
Jun 12, 2017

West Virginia Statute Barring Comp Benefits for Many—But Not All—Work Release Inmates is Constitutional

A provision in the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act [W. Va. Code § 23–4–1e(b)] that prohibits an inmate housed at a state work release center from receiving workers’ compensation benefits...

West Virginia Statute Barring Comp Benefits for Many—But Not All—Work Release Inmates is Constitutional West Virginia Statute Barring Comp Benefits for Many—But Not All—Work Release Inmates is Constitutional
Jun 9, 2017

Those Holding Their Breath for Arkansas Opt Out Legislation Can Exhale

I should have noted this earlier, but anyone still holding his or her breath as to whether Arkansas might pass workers’ compensation opt out legislation during the Legislature’s 2017 session...

Those Holding Their Breath for Arkansas Opt Out Legislation Can Exhale Those Holding Their Breath for Arkansas Opt Out Legislation Can Exhale
Jun 9, 2017

PA Employer Establishes Worker’s Loss of Earnings Claim by Creating Special Job That Paid Less

Where a workers’ compensation benefits claimant initially returned to work in a modified-duty position at no loss of wages and subsequently accepted a permanent light-duty position that the employer had...

PA Employer Establishes Worker’s Loss of Earnings Claim by Creating Special Job That Paid Less PA Employer Establishes Worker’s Loss of Earnings Claim by Creating Special Job That Paid Less
Jun 7, 2017

Colorado Court Apportions Two-Thirds of Occupational Disease Claim to Overweight Mechanic

Has the State Established New Weight-Loss Program for Workers? Emphasizing that within the Colorado workers’ compensation scheme, the employer does not necessarily take the employee as it finds him (or...

Colorado Court Apportions Two-Thirds of Occupational Disease Claim to Overweight Mechanic Colorado Court Apportions Two-Thirds of Occupational Disease Claim to Overweight Mechanic