A Florida trial court’s determination that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a civil action filed by an injured worker against her workers’ compensation medical providers under the state’s Consumer Collection Practices Act was error, held a state appellate court recently...
An auto liability insurer need not defend a wrongful death action filed against its insured, a corporation that had temporarily borrowed an employee of a separate, but related corporate entity to drive one of its vehicles. Because the borrowed driver was considered...
Auto insurers that provide no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) may not reduce their obligation to a policyholder based upon that policyholder’s receipt of workers’ compensation benefits, held the Supreme Court of South Carolina. In its decision, the Court...
Minn. Stat. § 176.83, subd. 5(c), and accompanying rules, under which an employer or workers’ compensation carrier may not be forced to pay chiropractic benefits beyond a 12-week period, does not prevent the injured worker from seeking reimbursement from his or...
A panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a California business liability insurer was not required to defend its insured—a pornography studio—in a suit filed against it by actors who contended, inter alia , that the insured defendant corporation had...
Where a Missouri husband and wife operated a local bakery and each separately procured policies of workers’ compensation insurance for the business, cancellation of one of the policies nevertheless had to be in conformity with state law, held the Eighth Circuit...
Where a carrier accepted the claim and did not contest coverage for two years, it was appropriate for the Board to apply the doctrine of laches and preclude that carrier from litigation the coverage issue with another carrier. The court acknowledged that the first...
An injured worker, who sustained catastrophic injuries that initially rendered him comatose and which ultimately resulted in significant behavioral and memory deficits, including deficits in executive functioning, problem solving, planning, and balance, may proceed...
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. 342.165(1), which provides for a 30 percent increase in workers’ compensation benefits where the workplace accident is caused in any degree by the intentional failure of the employer to comply with certain specific safety regulations,...
CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 82 No. 4 Apr 2017 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 ISSUE © Copyright...
Where a worker sustained fatal injuries in a ditch cave-in and the worker’s widow filed a tort action against the owner of a masonry business alleging negligence, it was appropriate for the insurer under the business’ commercial general liability policy to investigate...
Where an injured employee never commences a third-party action to recover for injuries arising out of the same incident as his or her workers’ compensation claim, but settles the claim for less than the amount of compensation he or she has received, a New York...
Issue 9 of the Workers’ Compensation Resources Research Report contains the first of a series of issues that provide an Overview of Workers’ Compensation . Part I discusses the origins of workers’ compensation programs in the U.S. early in the 20th century, the...
In a per curiam order, the Supreme Court of Texas held that a worker could not proceed directly against a non-subscribing employer’s general liability insurance carrier until it had been established, by judgment or agreement, that the employer had a legal obligation...
John Burton's Workers' Compensation Resources Research Report analyzes the latest A.M. Best report As explained in the November 2014 issue of Workers' Compensation Resources Research Report (WCRRR), the operating ratio is the "most comprehensive...