Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

New York: 19-Month Delay in Seeking Treatment, Coupled with Inadequate Medical Evidence Supports Board’s Denial of Benefits
Posted on 1 Jan 2022 by Thomas A. Robinson

Substantial evidence supported a decision by New York’s Workers’ Compensation Board that denied benefits to a claims examiner who contended she suffered a shoulder injury in a work-related fall at her office where she waited 19 months before... Read More

Louisiana: JCC's Credibility Findings Sufficient to Withstand Employer's Fraud Charge
Posted on 26 Jul 2020 by Thomas A. Robinson

A Louisiana appellate court affirmed a WCJ's finding that an employer had not reasonably controverted a claim in spite of the employer's evidence that the injured worker had a preexisting co-morbid condition -- a congenital single kidney -- that... Read More

South Carolina: Commission's Credibility Determinations as to Claimant Cannot Justify Ignoring Objective Medical Evidence of Injury
Posted on 27 Apr 2020 by Thomas A. Robinson

Acknowledging the broad discretion allowed to South Carolina's Workers' Compensation Commission when it comes to credibility determinations, the Supreme Court of South Carolina nevertheless reversed a Commission decision denying an employee's... Read More

New York: Farmhand’s Claim of Injury While Birthing Calf Fails
Posted on 6 Jul 2018 by Thomas A. Robinson

A New York appellate court reiterated the important legal point that while it is true that, absent substantial evidence to the contrary, N.Y. Work. Comp. Law § 21(1) affords a presumption that an accident that occurs in the course of employment also... Read More

Texas: Pro Se Litigant Fails to Establish Causal Connection Between Back Injury and Work-Related Fall
Posted on 2 Feb 2017 by Thomas A. Robinson

Where a pro se litigant testified that she sustained injuries when she slipped and fell during the course and scope of her employment, but she did not introduce expert medical testimony that showed a causal link between her claimed conditions—disc... Read More

Vermont Workers' Compensation Update: January to March 2012
Posted on 6 Apr 2012 by Keith J. Kasper

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DECISIONS Touchette v Vermont Slate and Roofing , Opinion No. 1-12WC, 2012 VT Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 5 (Jan. 13, 2012). In 2007, Claimant, a New York resident, suffers a work-related back injury in Vermont with a Vermont employer. In... Read More

Idaho: Claimant Fails to Show Accident Was Predominant Cause of Need for Psychological Care
Posted on 2 Jun 2016 by Larson's Spotlight

Reiterating the rule that the state’s Industrial Commission has broad discretion in weighing medical evidence and determining the credibility of conflicting expert opinions, the Supreme Court of Idaho, in a split decision, affirmed a Commission... Read More

Vermont Workers' Compensation Update: March to June 2011
Posted on 5 Oct 2011 by Keith J. Kasper

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DECISIONS Carr v. Verizon New England, Inc. , Opinion No. 8-11WC (Apr. 29, 2011). On cross motions for summary judgment Claimant's death claim fails as Claimant fails to show that his trip on a scheduled vacation date was related... Read More

Delaware IAB Denies Surgery to Pinocchio
Posted on 17 Mar 2015 by Cassandra Roberts

Today’s post comes to us from Wade Adams of Liberty Mutual. He is our guest blogger and I will leave it to him to tell the tale: "This is a case where Dr. Rudin performed a lumbar fusion on a claimant who had a negative MRI, but positive... Read More

Vermont Workers' Compensation Update: April to June 2013
Posted on 10 Jul 2013 by Keith J. Kasper

VERMONT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS Brown v W.T. Martin Plumbing & Heating, Inc. , 2013 VT 38 [ 2013 VT 38 ] (Jun. 21, 2013). Court reverses decisions of both the Commissioner and de novo bench determination (Judge Wesley) in determining that CRPS... Read More

Vermont Workers’ Compensation Update: April to June 2016
Posted on 11 Jul 2016 by Keith J. Kasper

This list of recent noteworthy cases was compiled by Keith J. Kasper of McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Buchard, PC. Argentina Kearney has joined the Department of Labor staff as a Workers’ Compensation Specialist II starting May... Read More

Missouri: Split Supreme Court Awards Bills on Hypertensive Event
Posted on 7 Jul 2016 by Martin Klug

The Missouri Supreme Court reversed a denial of benefits in a divided 4-3 opinion and found there was sufficient evidence in an expert’s written report to find medical causation, despite the fact the ALJ, the Commission, and the Court of Appeals... Read More

South Carolina: Statement to Employer That Employee Was “Pretty Sore” Constituted Notice of Injury
Posted on 22 Apr 2016 by Larson's Spotlight

Evidence that one day after moving tires, rims and heavy frame equipment while cleaning his employer’s shop, an auto body paint technician told the employer’s owner that he was “pretty sore” and he “must have hurt [himself... Read More

North Carolina: Expert’s Accident Reconstruction Testimony Sinks Employee’s Claim
Posted on 30 Sep 2016 by Thomas A. Robinson

A North Carolina court affirmed a finding by the state’s full Industrial Commission that a patient food service technician’s torn rotator cuff did not arise out of and in the course of the employment where the Commission found compelling testimony... Read More

VERMONT TOP CASES, powered by McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Buchard, PC (updated 7/11/2016)
Posted on 5 Feb 2013 by Keith J. Kasper

This list of recent noteworthy cases was compiled by Keith J. Kasper of McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Buchard, PC. Argentina Kearney has joined the Department of Labor staff as a Workers’ Compensation Specialist II starting... Read More