Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

Thomas A. Robinson Named Co-Author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law
Posted on 16 Apr 2015 by LexisNexis Workers' Comp Law Newsroom Staff

LexisNexis is pleased to announce that Thomas A. Robinson has been named a co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis) and Larson’s Workers’ Compensation, Desk Edition (LexisNexis). As such, he will work with Lex... Read More

Statutory Presumptions of Intoxication and Drug Use Don’t Always Ensure an Easy Win for Employers
Posted on 28 Mar 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

By Thomas A. Robinson At the heart of the workers’ compensation bargain is the essential doctrine that employee fault should generally not be considered when determining the compensability of the employee’s claim. Indeed, as Dr. Larson has... Read More

WCRI Releases Annual Study Highlighting Impact of the 2007 Workers’ Compensation Reforms in New York
Posted on 25 Jan 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

Introduction In December 2011, the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute [Cambridge, MA] (“WCRI”) published its fourth annual report evaluating the effects of the so-called workers’ compensation “reforms” passed... Read More

Oklahoma Opt Out Legislation Fails: A Post Mortem
Posted on 2 May 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

By Thomas A. Robinson Late last Wednesday evening (April 25th), supporters of a controversial bill that would have allowed some Oklahoma employers to “opt out” of the state’s traditional workers’ compensation system [ see Oklahoma... Read More

Texas Court Ties Injured Worker’s Drug Overdose to Side Effects of Prescription Pain Medication
Posted on 12 May 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

It is axiomatic in workers’ compensation law that a subsequent injury, whether an aggravation of the original injury or a new and distinct injury, is compensable if it is the direct and natural result of a compensable primary injury [see Larson’s... Read More

The Resiliency of the Exclusive Remedy Rule
Posted on 10 Dec 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

Thomas A. Robinson on the Resiliency of the Exclusive Remedy Rule for Workers' Compensation, 2012 Emerging Issues 6792 . This commentary highlights the important components of the workers' compensation exclusive remedy defense and its principle... Read More

Divided Sixth Circuit Court Delivers Body Blow to Michigan’s Continuing Battle Regarding RICO Claims and Comp Exclusivity
Posted on 12 Apr 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

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 the dismissal of plaintiff employees’ RICO action and remanded it to the United... Read More

The Future of Exclusive Remedy: Does the Doctrine Still Protect Employers?
Posted on 31 Aug 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

At the 21st Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference ®, Nov. 7-9, 2012, Thomas A. Robinson, author and primary upkeep writer for Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law , will speak and moderate on The Future of... Read More

The Future of Exclusive Remedy: Does the Doctrine Still Protect Employers?
Posted on 31 Aug 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

At the 21st Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference ®, Nov. 7-9, 2012, Thomas A. Robinson, author and primary upkeep writer for Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law , will speak and moderate on The Future of... Read More

Injured Workers Beware: Hidden Danger in Concurrent Employment in States That Refuse to Combine Concurrent Wages in Computing Average Weekly Wage
Posted on 19 Aug 2011 by Thomas A. Robinson

A close friend of our youngest child (age-25) recently repeated a quip that I first heard years ago, during the “stagflation” of the late 1970s. Our son’s friend, who holds a degree from a respected North Carolina university, but who... Read More

Brucellosis Contracted at Slaughter House Was Injury, Not Occupational Disease
Posted on 14 Mar 2010 by Thomas A. Robinson

Burress worked at IBP's meat-packing plant from 1987 until 1997. His first few years of work involved significant contact with hogs and hog blood and on at least one occasion during that early time frame, he cut a finger while working with the hogs... Read More

Exclusive Remedy Bars Contribution Claim, But Not Indemnification Claim
Posted on 26 Feb 2010 by Thomas A. Robinson

An employer ("the employer") determined that it should install special safety mats around a shear cutting machine to eliminate hazards presented when a worker stood too close to the machine. The safety mats functioned by shutting the cutting... Read More

Divided Sixth Circuit Court Delivers Body Blow to Michigan’s Continuing Battle Regarding RICO Claims and Comp Exclusivity
Posted on 12 Apr 2012 by Thomas A. Robinson

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 the dismissal of plaintiff employees’ RICO action and remanded it to the United... Read More