Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

New York: Claim Fails Where Employee Died Before Adequate Record Could be Established
Posted on 3 Aug 2021 by Thomas A. Robinson

The properly disallowed an employee’s claim for benefits under N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 15(4) because the claim abated upon the employee’s death since the record was undeveloped. The court noted that the employee had not testified... Read More

High Costs of Longer-Term Opioid Use: Workers’ Compensation Study Finds Heavy Use Compounds Medical Issues
Posted on 4 Oct 2012 by John Stahl

Proof that “a higher use of opioids [among patients with occupational diseases] may … lead to addiction, increased disability or work loss, and even death” prompted the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute to conduct a study... Read More

Wyoming: Father May Maintain Tort Action Against Employer for Mental Injury Associated With Son’s Death
Posted on 19 Feb 2016 by Larson's Spotlight

The Supreme Court of Wyoming found that a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim filed by an employee against the employer and one of the employer’s superintendents following the death of his son, who also worked for the employer at the... Read More

Oklahoma: Intentional Tort Case May Continue Under “Substantially Certain” Rule
Posted on 8 Jul 2016 by Larson's Spotlight

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that there were material issues of fact as to whether the decedent’s employer knew that injury or death was substantially certain to result from the task decedent and his coworkers were directed to complete and... Read More

Florida: Surviving Spouse’s Fails to Establish Employee’s Death Was “Virtually Certain”
Posted on 5 Jun 2015 by Larson's Spotlight

A Florida appellate court affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment favoring a general contractor in a civil action filed against it by the surviving spouse of an employee who was run over and killed by a dump truck while the employee worked at... Read More

California: Top 25 Noteworthy Panel Decisions (July–December 2015)
Posted on 3 Jan 2016 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

LexisNexis has picked the top “noteworthy” panel decisions issued by the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board during the period July through December 2015. The list features a number of decisions addressing the assignment and... Read More

Mississippi: Approval of Settlement Agreement After Worker’s Death Sustained
Posted on 1 Jun 2017 by Thomas A. Robinson

Where an injured employee and the employer (and carrier) executed a settlement agreement, forwarding it on to the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission for approval and the employee died from unrelated causes two days before the agreement... Read More

California Workers' Comp Case Roundup (1/4/2014)
Posted on 4 Jan 2014 by California Compensation Cases Staff

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 78 No. 12 December 2013 A Report of En Banc and Significant Panel Decisions of the WCAB and Selected Court Opinions of Related Interest, With a Digest of WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review CONTENTS OF THIS... Read More

New York: Airport Worker’s Work In Freezing Weather Causally Connected to Heart Attack
Posted on 29 Apr 2016 by Larson's Spotlight

Substantial evidence supported a finding by the Board that an employee’s fatal heart attack was causally related to his employment where the decedent and others were called upon to deal with a frozen valve, the decedent was required to travel outside... Read More

Tennessee: Injured Worker’s Death Due to Overdose Was Not Compensable
Posted on 14 Apr 2017 by Thomas A. Robinson

Reversing a decision of a state chancery court that had found an injured worker’s death due to acute oxycodone overdose, coupled with alcohol use, to be compensable, the Supreme Court of Tennessee held that the actions of the worker, in taking more... Read More

Nebraska: Wyoming Coroner’s Report Not Entitled to Full Faith and Credit
Posted on 13 Feb 2015 by Larson's Spotlight

A Wyoming county coroner’s report that listed the cause of death as an accidental overdose of medications an injured worker was taking to relieve pain following a compensable injury is evidence to be considered, but it is not entitled to full faith... Read More

Seizure Was Compensable Consequence of Industrial Head Injury: Cal. Comp. Cases July Advanced Postings (7/7/2016)
Posted on 8 Jul 2016 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here’s the latest batch of advanced postings for the July 2016 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2016 LexisNexis. All rights... Read More

Texas: Widow’s Gross Negligence Action Against Employer Fails
Posted on 5 Dec 2014 by Larson's Spotlight

In Texas, an employer that causes the death of an employee due to the employer’s gross negligence or intentional acts or omissions is subject to suit for exemplary damages brought by the surviving spouse or heirs of the deceased employee [see Tex... Read More

Alabama: Settlement Agreement Signed by Parties, But Not Approved by Trial Court, Dies Along With Claimant
Posted on 2 Jul 2015 by Larson's Spotlight

Under the provisions of by Ala. Code § 25-5-56, the trial court must approve any agreement compromising an injured worker’s benefits in order to be enforceable. Under that rule, an Alabama appellate court affirmed a finding that a settlement... Read More

California: Labor Code Does Not Permit Defendant to Bury Its Head in the Sand to Dodge Its Obligations
Posted on 22 Apr 2013 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

In The Romano Trust v. The Kroger Co . , 2013 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, a WCAB panel declared it had rarely encountered a case in which a defendant “has exhibited such blithe disregard for its legal and ethical obligation to provide medical... Read More