Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed an award of workers’ compensation death benefits to the widow of a national charity’s financial advisor who died of a heart attack while exercising on a treadmill at his home. Utilizing the presumption found in 39-A M...
If a Missouri worker gets injured using a public toilet, does she get comp benefits? The answer is: at least some of the time, according to the latest report from the Commission in a case affirming benefits in a temporary award. Eberhard v G4S/Walkenhut , 2015...
Construing a statutory provision that describes how an injured employee’s average weekly wage should be computed, a North Carolina appellate has affirmed a determination by the state’s Industrial Commission that based an award of death benefits on the wages the...
A Tennessee appellate court held that in connection with an occupational disease claim, an employee need not show that the exposure or risk is related to a substance that emanates from the employer; it is sufficient to show that the exposure or risk is “connected...
Washington state courts may not use the “substantially certain” test to determine whether an employer’s actions against an injured worker were intentional, again held the Supreme Court of Washington in a split decision. Accordingly, a widow’s...
A recent study points to a positive and consistent relationship between O*NET ratings of physical job demands and the risk of contracting arthritis later in life. Importantly, the study also demonstrates the utility of using such O*NET job descriptors to estimate...
A federal court dismissed a complaint filed against Weyerhaeuser Co. arising out of plaintiff's exposure to asbestos and a related disease, malignant mesothelioma, while employed at a Weyerhaeuser facility that used asbestos products in the manufacture of fireproof...
The WCAB has issued two noteworthy panel decisions involving home health care services in light of Neri Hernandez (en banc). In each of these decisions, which involved critically injured workers, the WCAB has signaled in very strong terms that it will not tolerate...
New study finds combined use of these drugs significantly increases workers’ comp costs Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter , is a leading commentator and expert on the law...
As did a number of other states, South Carolina established a Second Injury Fund to encourage employers to hire disabled or handicapped persons. Generally, under the provisions of S.C. Code Ann. § 42-9-400, if an employer can show that the injured worker's...
The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed an award of workers' compensation death benefits to the surviving spouse of an employee who died as a result of an embolism she suffered after working through the night on a work-related project at her home. The deceased...
A North Carolina appellate court has affirmed a decision of the state’s Industrial Commission that denied the workers’ compensation claim of a 59-year-old FedEx courier who, after two hours of work one day, suffered a stroke brought about by a carotid dissection...
First-in-its-kind study concludes better testing than that currently mandated could lead to earlier detection of affected workers The old adage “what cannot be cured must be endured” most certainly applies to the permanency of hearing loss. Given the fact that...
CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 79 No. 5 May 2014 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...
In an opinion not designated for publication, a Virginia appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that held a retired firefighter-medic was not entitled to utilize the state’s “firefighter’s presumption” in connection...