A common law cause of action for bad-faith failure to pay workers’ compensation benefits may not be pursued against a third-party administrator of a workers’ compensation insurer, held the Supreme Court of Iowa, in a divided (5-2) decision... Read More

The exclusive remedy provision of the Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Act is so strong, held the state’s Supreme Court, that it shielded a co-employee from tort liability in a dangerous incident involving horseplay. The evidence indicated... Read More

Where a plywood manufacturer recruited a worker as a candidate for a mechanic position in its maintenance department, undertook the right to control the worker’s day-to-day work activities, controlled the work the worker performed and paid him an... Read More

Building on an earlier decision in which the Ohio Supreme Court had determined that the Ohio contractor’s self-insurance plan [see Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 4123.35(O)] provided immunity not only to the self-insuring general contractor, but also... Read More

The estate of an Ohio employee who sustained fatal injuries in an extrusion press accident may not maintain a civil action against the state’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (“BWC”) for its alleged negligent provision of safety... Read More

An appellate court in Washington state held that it was error for a trial court to grant summary judgment in favor of a defendant, on exclusive remedy grounds, where the plaintiff alleged he was struck by a vehicle driven by the defendant, a fellow employee... Read More

A paraprofessional working at a Staten Island school, who sustained injuries when she slipped and fell on a wet floor in the school cafeteria, may not maintain a civil action in negligence against the school custodian engineer and a school custodial assistant... Read More

Adopting the dominant rule discussed in Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law , Ch. 111, § 111.03, the Supreme Court of Washington held that a co-employee enjoys immunity under the exclusive remedy provisions of the state’s workers’... Read More

The Hawaii Workers’ Compensation Act’s bar on claims for injuries incurred in the course of the employment does not extend to injuries to a person’s reputation, held the state’s Supreme Court. Accordingly, where two county employees... Read More

A North Carolina appellate court held that the exclusive remedy provisions of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act apply to bar civil actions against the employer for all employees—even those that are engaged in “ultra-hazardous”... Read More

In a decision that may produce ripples within the Texas construction industry, a state appellate court held that in order to enjoy the exclusive remedy defense, Tex. Lab. Code Ann. § 406.123(a) requires a general contractor to do something more than... Read More

In a split decision, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, answering a certified question for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, held the state’s Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act fully abrogated the so-called “dual-capacity”... Read More

A school bus driver was not entitled to rely upon Kentucky’s fellow-immunity rule in a tort action filed against her, since there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that the defendant driver was voluntarily intoxicated at... Read More

Where a parent corporation paid workers’ compensation benefits for employees of a subsidiary, it enjoyed immunity from negligence claims under 820 ILCS 305/5(a) (2012) only if it was under a legal obligation to pay the benefits, held an Illinois... Read More

Georgia’s apportionment statute, OCGA § 51-12-33(c) requires the trier of fact to consider the “fault” of all persons or entities that have contributed to the plaintiff’s alleged injury or damages, including nonparties. The... Read More