Where a hospital sent an injured worker eight separate invoices for charges related to his work-related injuries and, on two additional occasions, send invoices to a collection agency in an effort to collect monies owed for the worker’s treatment, it was liable...
The North Carolina Industrial Commission has broad discretion in refusing to order sanctions for allegedly “stubborn, unfounded litigiousness,” reiterated a state appellate court. Accordingly, it was within the province of the Commission to refuse to impose sanctions...
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, coupled...
Where an injured employee sustained a laceration over the eye -- a condition admitted by the employer -- and later sought reinstatement of his disability benefits, the burden was on the employee to establish his entitlement to benefits based on an actual disability;...
While the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act provides, under some circumstances, for the imposition of penalties for the delay in paying medical expenses and other benefits, there is no statutory authority for imposing penalties for an alleged delay in authorizing...
The state’s Workers’ Compensation Board was within its discretion when it assessed a $500 fine against a New York claimant’s attorney under N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 114-a(3)(ii), after the attorney sought review of a decision by WCLJ denying a late payment penalty...
Stressing that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against the imposition of “excessive fines” applies not only to fines that are levied against individuals, but also against corporations, the Supreme Court of Colorado, with one partially dissenting justice, ordered...
An employer was not entitled to a reduction in a workers’ compensation award on the basis that an employee had failed to use safety devices (seat belts and a safety hat) provided by the employer [see Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.120.5] because the employer had...
The Compensation Court correctly denied an injured worker’s request for waiting-time penalties and attorney fees where the employer mailed the second of two installments to the wrong address, but where the first check—also mailed to the incorrect address—was actually...
Illinois’ Administrative Review Law has no bearing on the provisions of the state’s Worker’s Compensation Act, which sets forth a specific procedure for the review of an arbitrator's workers' compensation award at all levels, interest on the award during...
It was proper for the Utah Labor Commission to determine that an employer had not willfully or deliberately bypassed a safety devise in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 34A-2-301(1)(d)(2015), where a manager credibly testified that he had not overridden the safety...
Where a husband and wife employed a live-in domestic to perform housekeeping and child care duties, but failed to maintain workers’ compensation insurance, it was appropriate for the New York Workers’ Compensation Board to impose an $86,000 penalty pursuant to...
The imposition of more than $840,000 fine against an uninsured employer was unconstitutionally excessive under both the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and a similarly-worded provision of the Colorado constitution, where the fine was based upon a statutory...
An Arkansas court held that the owner of a small Arkansas business appropriately secured workers’ compensation coverage when evidence indicated an insurance company issued a policy and the business paid a premium of $1,000. That the policy did not name any...
Depending on which study you believe in, workplace wellness programs may or may not be a good return on investment for employers. On the one side you have studies showing that for every $1 invested in a workplace wellness program, there’s a $1.88 to $3.92 reduction...