Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

If I Only Had a Brain…… DE IAB Rules On Issue Of “Biological Depression” and Brain Impairment
Posted on 14 Aug 2013 by Cassandra Roberts

I love it when people read my mind. I also love it when I have a guest blogger. So today’s post is a happy constellation of circumstance, thanks to Kim Harrison of Marshall, Dennehy. Kim contacted me yesterday on the very case that was slated for... Read More

The Ultimate Soy Allergy: No Permanency Benefits for Claimant Crushed to Death In Grain Elevator
Posted on 17 Apr 2012 by Cassandra Roberts

I reported on one of the pre-trial motions in this case in my post of 2/28/12 titled " Body of Evidence ". Interesting case about where an autopsy was performed on the down low in a case involving a catastrophic and posthumous claim for permanent... Read More

Body of Evidence: Delaware IAB Rules on Motion to Exclude Findings Gleaned From Covert Autopsy
Posted on 28 Feb 2012 by Cassandra Roberts

There has been some ongoing litigation, not yet in front of the Board for a merits hearing, on the issue of whether, if someone's death is instantaneous or almost such, they can recover for permanent impairment. I am attaching for your reading pleasure... Read More

California: SB 863 and Benson
Posted on 1 Apr 2013 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. Attention Lexis Online Subscribers: Citations link to lexis.com. Bracketed citations link to Lexis Advance. Call me weird, obsessed, bored, or deeply disturbed but recently while I was on my almost daily four-mile hike in... Read More

Workers’ Comp, Texas Style: A Highly Regulated System in a Pro-Business State
Posted on 26 Jul 2012 by Stuart D. Colburn

By Stuart D. Colburn and Albert Betts, Jr. Cotton, cattle and oil were the primary economic engines when Texas first adopted workers’ compensation. In the 100+ years since, the economy and workers’ compensation laws have changed dramatically... Read More

Vermont: Agreement to Arrange for Impairment Rating Medical Visit Does Not Toll Statute of Limitations
Posted on 13 Mar 2015 by Larson's Spotlight

The State of Vermont, as employer, did not waive the affirmative defense of statute of limitations when it agreed to claimant’s Fall 2010 request for an impairment rating related to his January 1996 work-related injury. While a lower court did err... Read More

New York Workers’ Compensation State of Mind
Posted on 23 May 2013 by Ronald E. Weiss & Ronald Balter

Attention Lexis Online Subscribers: Citations link to lexis.com. Bracketed citations link to Lexis Advance. The 2013 Edition of New York Workers’ Compensation Handbook is now available. The following article is excerpted from the Handbook: ... Read More

Larson’s Spotlight on Recent Cases: Psychic Injury Need Not Be Immediately Apparent
Posted on 15 Mar 2013 by Larson's Spotlight

Larson's Spotlight on Psychic Injury, Diversity Jurisdiction, Permanent Impairment, and Tort Action. Larson's surveys the latest case developments that you need to know about. Thomas A. Robinson, the staff writer for Larson's Workers'... Read More

Pennsylvania: Statute Requiring Use of AMA Guides, 6th Ed., Struck Down
Posted on 25 Sep 2015 by Larson's Spotlight

In a sharply divided decision, a Pennsylvania appellate court held that the statutory provision in § 306(a.2) of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act that requires physicians to utilize “the most recent” edition of the AMA’s... Read More

California: You Better Be Ready to Lawyer Up!
Posted on 17 Aug 2012 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Most people involved with California’s workers’ compensation system would say that over the past twenty years, the process has become increasingly litigious. There can be little question that the issues have become increasingly technical.... Read More

Salt Water Taffy and a Tad Of Permanency--DE IAB Rules On Disputed Value Of a Pelvis and Creates a Value For the Biliary Tract
Posted on 6 Aug 2013 by Cassandra Roberts

So, of course, as I have one foot out the door to head to the beach, the IAB ruling I have been tracking hits my desk. Did you know that prior to this decision, there were three inconsistent IAB decisions assigning three different values to a pelvis?... Read More

Head Case: Some Funky Permanencies and a Disfigurement Admonishment in the First State
Posted on 14 Dec 2015 by Cassandra Roberts

This comes to us by way of Susan Ament of Morris James. Not like Susan to toot her own horn and in fact, this was sent to me by her paralegal. And when you are married to my brother, you get what I like to call “blog preference.” But I have... Read More

Iowa: High Court Allows Apportionment for Prior Disability, Clarifies Earlier Ruling
Posted on 5 Jun 2015 by Larson's Spotlight

Where an Iowa employee worked concurrently for employer A (“A”) and employer B (“B”), sustained compensable permanent injuries while working for A, received a permanent impairment award from A and, after ceasing employment with... Read More

Let It Bleed: A Delaware Case On Venous System Impairment
Posted on 10 Mar 2015 by Cassandra Roberts

I recently put a call out for case law guidance on certain of the more obscure permanency values. One of them was the vascular system. And lo and behold, right on top of things was Walt Schmittinger with John Lowman v. Connectiv Power Delivery , IAB#1188166... Read More

Late Breaking News from the Delaware Supreme Court on the Meaning of the Word “Resolved”
Posted on 4 Nov 2015 by Cassandra Roberts

Folks, this is what many of you have been waiting for. The latest word from the Supremes on whether describing the nature of injury on an Agreement as to Compensation tendered by the Employer to include the word “resolved” precludes a future... Read More