In two companion decisions, a divided Supreme Court of Minnesota held that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) lacks jurisdiction to decide whether federal law preempts Minnesota law...
MN Supreme Court Says No to Mandatory Reimbursement for Medical Marijuana MN Supreme Court Says No to Mandatory Reimbursement for Medical MarijuanaIn a long, winding, yet carefully-worded decision (with both concurring and dissenting opinions), a divided Supreme Court of Texas held the federal Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) does not preempt Texas’s...
Texas High Court Collides with 10th Circuit’s Air Ambulance Decision Texas High Court Collides with 10th Circuit’s Air Ambulance DecisionYesterday (October 10, 2019), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in which the lower court had...
Ninth Circuit Says California’s Insolvency Fund Need Not Reimburse CMS for Medicare’s Conditional Payments Ninth Circuit Says California’s Insolvency Fund Need Not Reimburse CMS for Medicare’s Conditional PaymentsWhile hypothetical questions may have been the standard in law school courses taught via the Socratic Method, the Sixth Circuit recently held such questions are not to be considered by...
Sixth Circuit Side-Steps Federal Immigration Issue in Retaliatory Discharge Action Sixth Circuit Side-Steps Federal Immigration Issue in Retaliatory Discharge ActionIn a case of first impression within the state, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, in a 5-2 decision, Bourgoin v. Twin Rivers Paper Co., LLC, 2018 ME 77, 187...
Maine Employer Need Not Pay for Injured Worker’s Medical Marijuana Maine Employer Need Not Pay for Injured Worker’s Medical MarijuanaRecent Federal District Court Discusses ERISA’s Strong Preemption Provisions As I have noted on multiple other occasions, one of the distinctive features of the workers’ compensation “opt out” scheme is...
Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves? Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves?by Thomas A. Robinson A divided Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Brown v. Cassens Transp. Co., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 6929 (6th Cir. Apr. 6, 2012), has again reversed...
Divided Sixth Circuit Court Delivers Body Blow to Michigan’s Continuing Battle Regarding RICO Claims and Comp Exclusivity Divided Sixth Circuit Court Delivers Body Blow to Michigan’s Continuing Battle Regarding RICO Claims and Comp Exclusivity