In a decision not designated for publication, a Nebraska court affirmed a finding by the state's Workers' Compensation Court that a truck driver had sustained permanent total disability due to an ankle fracture. The court noted the deep conflict in the...
An award of permanent total disability benefits to an injured worker was appropriate in spite of allegations by the former employer that the worker abandoned the labor market by moving to Winner, South Dakota, more than 60 miles from Sioux Falls—her former residence...
Stressing that under the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Act—except for scheduled-member cases—indemnity benefits are made for diminished wage-earning capacity and not medical impairment, as such, a state appellate court affirmed the Commission’s findings that...
A worker who sustained an admitted back injury and who was later fired for misconduct may nevertheless be entitled to temporary disability benefits if he or she can show an inability to work because of the work injury, held an Indiana appellate court. The court...
By Elizabeth Connellan Smith, Counsel, Verrill Dana LLP, Portland, ME Innovation isn’t always the first word associated with the regulation of workers’ compensation, but innovation was in the forefront of the Commissioners and Associate Members Roundtable...
The LexisNexis Legal Newsroom Workers’ Compensation Law has interviewed leading experts from different segments of the workers’ compensation industry to tell us some common myths and facts about workers’ compensation. Note that the myths listed...
By Jennifer C. Jordan, Esq., General Counsel, MEDVAL, LLC On April 20, 2016, the IAIABC kicked off the National Conversation on the Future of Workers’ Compensation at its Forum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In a three hour session, questions were presented to...
In a split (7–2) decision, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma has struck down yet another provision of the state’s controversial 2013 “reform” of its workers’ compensation law. The provision, Okla. Stat. tit. 85A, § 45(C)(5), defers...
An employee who sustained an admitted work-related injury, who was placed on “Family Medical Leave” by the employer while the employee was away from work due to his injuries, and who was terminated upon the expiration of the 12-week FMLA leave, could...
The Supreme Court of Hawaii, vacating a lower court decision, held that substantial evidence showed that a new type of neuromonics device was “reasonably needed” for treating an injured worker’s tinnitus, and that based on this finding, the worker was not medically...
Karen C. Yotis, Esq., a Feature Resident Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter , provides insights into workplace issues and the nuts and bolts of the workers’ comp world. The cost cutting game being played in the workers’ compensation...
I am reading the ProPublica Report with great interest because there are so many things I agree with. After reading all the press brouhaha over this report however, I still regard the high cost of workers compensation (for those companies which do have high costs...
In an unpublished decision, a Michigan appellate court affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment favoring an employer in an injured worker’s retaliatory discharge action, finding that plaintiff could not make the requisite showing of a causal...
A Connecticut court affirmed the finding of the commissioner that various medications prescribed by the plaintiff’s treating physician for a head injury that occurred some 18 years earlier were palliative rather than curative, and thus were not reasonable...
Study shows return to work, work retention rates dramatically improve Measured by such yardsticks as return-to-work, work retention and reoperation rates, the success of lumbar surgeries in the Workers’ Compensation (“WC”) system could be fairly characterized...