Yesterday (October 2, 2017), a cadre of 29 Pennsylvania legislators introduced a bill—House Bill 1840—that would require physicians to apply the methodology set forth in “the sixth edition” of the...
PA Legislative Bill Would Require Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides PA Legislative Bill Would Require Use of 6th Edition of AMA GuidesIn Young v. Station 27, Inc., 2017 OK 68, 2017 Okla. LEXIS 69 (Sept. 12, 2017), the Supreme Court of Oklahoma finessed the constitutionality of the state’s current retaliatory discharge...
Oklahoma High Court Finesses Constitutional Issue as to Retaliatory Discharge Statute Oklahoma High Court Finesses Constitutional Issue as to Retaliatory Discharge StatuteIn a case of first impression, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a U.S. District Court decision that had dismissed a widow’s civil action seeking a declaration that N.D....
Eighth Circuit: North Dakota Need Not Substitute Colorado’s More Generous Death Benefits Rules for Claim Filed in the Peace Garden State Eighth Circuit: North Dakota Need Not Substitute Colorado’s More Generous Death Benefits Rules for Claim Filed in the Peace Garden StateHigh Courts in Several States Strike Down Legislative Challenges to the Heart of the Workers’ Compensation System As we put together last year’s edition of the Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis...
The Year of Equal Justice and Due Process The Year of Equal Justice and Due ProcessOn October 5, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor released a widely anticipated report on the adequacy of state-based workers’ compensation programs. While the 41-page report does not go as...
Has the Other Shoe Dropped? New Report Signals Feds Are Losing Patience with State Workers’ Compensation Programs Has the Other Shoe Dropped? New Report Signals Feds Are Losing Patience with State Workers’ Compensation ProgramsEarlier today (September 13, 2016), in Vasquez v. Dillard’s, Inc., 2016 OK 89, in a 7–2 decision, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, in one of the most important workers’ compensation...
Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s Opt Out Law Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s Opt Out LawDecision Continues Long National Trend to Treat Farm Workers on Par With Other Employees A provision of the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) [N.M. Stat. Ann. § 52–1–6(A) (2015)]...
New Mexico High Court Strikes Down Farm and Ranch Laborer Exclusion New Mexico High Court Strikes Down Farm and Ranch Laborer ExclusionThe 2013 Oklahoma workers’ compensation “reforms” 2013 Senate Bill 1062 which, among other things, created the state’s uber-controversial “Opt Out” arrangement, in which employers can jettison the entire state-run system...
Oklahoma Supreme Court Lands Yet Another Body Blow to State’s Controversial Opt Out Law Oklahoma Supreme Court Lands Yet Another Body Blow to State’s Controversial Opt Out LawAs I reported on Wednesday, in Torres v. Seaboard Foods, LLC, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma struck down a provision in the state’s workers’ compensation law that disqualifies a claimant...
Does Torres Signal How OK High Court Will Decide Constitutionality of Opt Out? Does Torres Signal How OK High Court Will Decide Constitutionality of Opt Out?In Recent “Comp” Decisions (the other from Commission), Oklahoma Legislature Is “0 for 2” A provision in Okla. Stat. tit. 85A, § 2(14) that disqualifies a claimant from recovering for...
Oklahoma High Court Strikes Down State’s 180-Day Cumulative Trauma Employment Rule Oklahoma High Court Strikes Down State’s 180-Day Cumulative Trauma Employment RuleIn a short—yet stinging—Order issued late yesterday [December 22, 2015], the Supreme Court of Florida declined to accept jurisdiction and accordingly denied a petition for review that had been filed...
Florida Supreme Court Delivers Coup de Gras to Padgett Florida Supreme Court Delivers Coup de Gras to PadgettEarlier today (June 24th), Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reversed and completely repudiated the decision of Judge Jorge E. Cueto, Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, that had, on August 19,...
Florida Appellate Court Throws Out Judge Cueto’s “Padgett” Decision on Procedural Grounds Florida Appellate Court Throws Out Judge Cueto’s “Padgett” Decision on Procedural Grounds