Decision is Consistent with Majority Rule In a holding that is consistent with the dominant rule among American jurisdictions, a Pennsylvania appellate court recently affirmed a Board decision that awarded...
PA Court: Carefully Planned Suicide Still Compensable PA Court: Carefully Planned Suicide Still CompensableFor some time now, in many states, when a worker has sustained a work-related injury requiring treatment at an emergency department or hospital, he or she typically has had two...
Opinion Mondays: NY Recreational Marijuana Law Could End Most Post-Injury Cannabis Testing Opinion Mondays: NY Recreational Marijuana Law Could End Most Post-Injury Cannabis TestingLamenting that under the plain wording of Ky. Rev. Stat. § 342.165(1), a temporary staffing company can only be liable for the special 30 percent enhancement of workers’ compensation benefits...
Safety Violation Cannot Be Imputed to Kentucky Temporary Staffing Company Safety Violation Cannot Be Imputed to Kentucky Temporary Staffing CompanyBankruptcy Court Nixes WI Claimant’s Effort to Avoid Paying Med Providers Where a Wisconsin worker settled a contested workers’ compensation claim with his employer and its insurer by means of...
Opinion Mondays: Settlements in Contested Cases Can be Fraught With Equitable Challenges Opinion Mondays: Settlements in Contested Cases Can be Fraught With Equitable ChallengesBRB Says Required Use of “Most Recent Version of Guides is Not Unconstitutional Delegation of Legislative Power In a decision that may have slipped beneath the radar of insurers, administrators,...
Opinion Mondays: As to AMA Guides, is There an Alternative to Protz? Opinion Mondays: As to AMA Guides, is There an Alternative to Protz?In a much anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Kansas reversed an August 2018 decision of the state's Court of Appeals that had struck down as unconstitutional the use of...
Kansas Supreme Court Says Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides is Constitutional Kansas Supreme Court Says Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides is ConstitutionalSeveral weeks ago, an attorney friend called for some advice. One of his clients had asked if the client’s business might face additional liability if–once the COVID-19 vaccines are generally...
Opinion Mondays: Do Employers Face Additional Liability for COVID-19 Vaccination Side Effects? Opinion Mondays: Do Employers Face Additional Liability for COVID-19 Vaccination Side Effects?Iowa Commutation Order Allows for Substantial Inheritable Estate Illustrating just how far some states have moved away from the original workers’ compensation principle that indemnity benefits are not an inheritable...
Opinion Mondays: States Shouldn’t Treat PTD Awards as Estate Planning Tools Opinion Mondays: States Shouldn’t Treat PTD Awards as Estate Planning ToolsIn a deeply divided (3-2) decision, a New York appellate court reversed a decision by the state's Workers' Compensation Compensation Board that had found an injured, undocumented construction worker had...
Opinion Mondays: Those Hiring Undocumented Workers Should Not be Allowed to Game the System Opinion Mondays: Those Hiring Undocumented Workers Should Not be Allowed to Game the SystemThe D.C. Court of Appeals reversed a decision by the District's Compensation Review Board (CRB) that had held the District of Columbia's Adjudication and Hearings Department had no statutory authority...
Opinion Mondays: DC’s Hearings Division Has New Job—Choosing a Home Remodeling Contractor Opinion Mondays: DC’s Hearings Division Has New Job—Choosing a Home Remodeling ContractorAmong the factors adding complexity to the issue of whether a particular worker is an employee or an independent contractor is the sheer number of tests that might be utilized...
Opinion Mondays: Tests for Employment Status Appear to Grow on Trees Opinion Mondays: Tests for Employment Status Appear to Grow on TreesWithin the community of workers’ compensation professionals, most of our COVID-19 attention has been directed to presumptions of compensability and to the relatively unprecedented awarding of benefits to employees who...
Opinion Mondays: COVID-19 and the Going and Coming Rule Opinion Mondays: COVID-19 and the Going and Coming Rule