Category Archives: Issue commentary

Seattle Delivery Service Hit With $1 Million in Workers’ Comp Premiums, Penalties and Interest

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Thomas A. Robinson

Two weeks ago I wrote about Amazon’s new “last-mile” delivery service. In that post, I pointed out that Amazon had carefully crafted the business model to assure that the delivery drivers would be characterized as employees—not its employees, mind you—but … Continue reading →

Posted in Case comment, Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Colorado High Court Says 8th Amendment’s “Excessive Fines” Prohibition Protects Corporations, as Well as Individuals

Posted on June 10, 2019 by Thomas A. Robinson

Decision Calls Into Question Whether Per Diem Fines to Uninsured Employers Are Unconstitutionally Harsh The Supreme Court of Colorado, with one justice dissenting in part, recently held that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against the imposition of “excessive fines” applies to … Continue reading →

Posted in Case comment, Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon’s New “Last-Mile” Delivery Service: Who “Employs” that Driver-Deliverer at Your Door?

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Thomas A. Robinson

Commentary: Is the Workers’ Compensation World Ready for Amazon’s New Package Delivery Business Model? The Answer Might Surprise You! As I drove to a meeting in downtown Durham a few days ago, I noticed a procession of 15—I actually counted … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tornadoes and other “Acts of God”: When Are Weather-Related Injuries Compensable?

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Thomas A. Robinson

Yesterday, I had an interesting e-mail exchange with a blog subscriber who wanted my take on the compensability of injuries resulting from Acts of God, specifically, tornadoes and and lightning strikes. Her question had been prompted by the fact that … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Tornadoes and other “Acts of God”: When Are Weather-Related Injuries Compensable?

Home-Based Workers: Beware of Four-Legged “Best Friends”

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Thomas A. Robinson

Recent Decisions Reach Opposite Conclusions in Dog-Tripping Incidents According to a recent report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as many as 22 percent of the American labor force perform at least some of their work at home. Indeed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue commentary | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Home-Based Workers: Beware of Four-Legged “Best Friends”

NH High Court Issues Ruling on Medical Marijuana for Injured Worker—Sort of

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Thomas A. Robinson

Opinion Raises as Many Questions as It Answers Last Thursday (March 7), the Supreme Court of New Hampshire handed down a decision that reversed, in pertinent part, a state Appeals Board decision that had refused to require a workers’ compensation … Continue reading →

Posted in Case comment, Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on NH High Court Issues Ruling on Medical Marijuana for Injured Worker—Sort of

South Carolina: In Dependency Case, Commission May Not Presume “Fornication” Occurred

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Thomas A. Robinson

In an ancient decision (one year older than me), Day v. Day, 216 S.C. 334, 58 S.E.2d 83 (1950), the Supreme Court of South Carolina, reflecting the general moral mindset of the time, held that a woman cannot be considered … Continue reading →

Posted in Case comment, Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on South Carolina: In Dependency Case, Commission May Not Presume “Fornication” Occurred

2018’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Cases

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Thomas A. Robinson

In the Foreword of our forthcoming Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis, 6th Edition [LexisNexis], due out in a few weeks, I note that in contrast to 2017, this year has been relatively calm for the workers’ compensation world. I caution … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 2018’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Cases

Recent Kansas AMA Guides Decision: Would the Court Prefer a Fault-Based System?

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Thomas A. Robinson

Jettisoning the Bath Water—Does the Baby Remain? As someone who has, for the past 32 years, earned the bulk of his living reading—I’ll admit, often only skimming—some 2,500 appellate decisions each year in our field of workers’ compensation law, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Case comment, Issue commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Real Reason LeBron is Moving to the Lakers!

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Thomas A. Robinson

There are some who point out that LeBron is getting ready to pay the highest taxes in his life (with a $154 million contract, he can afford it), that he should have gone to one of the Florida or Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue commentary | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment