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 hearing...
In order to rebut the presumption of compensability found in N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 21, an employer must come forward with “substantial” evidence, not just some evidence, to the contrary, held a state appellate court. Accordingly, where an employee sustained...
Stressing the important role that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board plays in the weighing of all evidence, even that offered by medical experts, a New York appellate court affirmed the Board’s determination that a hair salon owner, who sustained...
While it is the duty the ALJ to determine the facts, including whether or not an injured worker has reached MMI status, that determination may not be made without the support of appropriate medical evidence, held a Colorado appellate court. Accordingly, where neither...
Substantial evidence supported the New York Workers' Compensation Board's decision finding that the claimant did not sustain a causally-related cervical spine injury because the medical testimony contained conflicting findings as to whether the claimant's...
A claimant, who smoked cigarettes and worked as a coal miner for 30 years and who developed severe breathing problems after he stopped working in the coal mines was properly awarded benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C.S. § 901 et seq. , because...
The Judge of Compensation Claims appropriately disregarded the expert medical advisor’s (EMA’s) opinion that a claimant had a permanent impairment rating of at least 15 percent, as provided in the Class 2 classification of arrhythmias under the 1996...
The North Carolina Industrial Commission properly denied a worker’s claim for benefits in connection with his alleged work-related asthma on the basis that he failed to present expert medical evidence to establish that the conditions of his employment placed...
By: Christian P. Kerry, Esq. Introduction Labor Code §4660.1 (a), by its express terms, applies to all injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2013. It provides in pertinent part that in determining the percentages of permanent partial or permanent total...
By: Mark Gearheart © Copyright Mark Gearheart 2018 January 8, 2018 Introduction : Recently some have argued that vocational rehabilitation evidence cannot be used to rebut the Permanent Disability Rating Schedule (hereinafter referred to as the PDRS...
Before you build a house, you first make sure to construct a sturdy foundation. The same is true, in litigation. Before you build a case with evidence, you must set the foundation by verifying that the evidence you present is sufficiently credible and authentic...
Stressing that in Washington, the proof of medical causation related to an occupational disease does not require “magic words,” the Supreme Court of Washington affirmed a lower court decision that sustained an award of workers’ compensation benefits...
Under Tennessee’s medical impairment registry (“MIR”) program, where there is a disagreement among examining physicians as to the worker’s level of impairment, either party may seek an additional evaluation by an independent medical examiner from the workers’ compensation...
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 herniations,...
Reiterating the rule that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board could not rely upon expert medical opinion that amounted to mere speculation, a state appellate court affirmed the Board’s determination that a claimant did not sustain a causally related disability...