CA - Court Rejects Gardena Officer's FEHA Claim
10/14/2026 | 0
A California appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a former Gardena police lieutenant’s disability and age discrimination lawsuit.
The city’s retiree health insurance eligibility requirements did not establish unlawful discrimination, and the officer failed to plead facts showing discriminatory or retaliatory intent by the city manager involving a workers' compensation stress claim, the 2nd District Court of Appeal said in Sargent v. City of Gardena, an unpublished decision handed down Monday.
Michael Sargent worked for the city as a police officer from 2002 through Oct
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A New York appellate court ruled that a carpenter established that his heart attack was causally related to his exertion from chasing a runaway donkey.
Case: Matter of Mulligan v. Moy Construction Corp., No. CV-25-0231, 10/08/2026, published.
Facts: Gerard Mulligan worked for Moy Construction Corp. as a carpenter. He was asked to work on a shed containing animals at the residence of his employer's owner.
When Mulligan arrived, the owner's spouse, who is the employer’s vice president, asked him to help get a donkey that had gotten loose into the shed.
After they were
The District of Columbia’s highest court ruled that a worker’s temporary total disability benefits should have been suspended once she began collecting retirement benefits from the federal Civil Service Retirement System.
Case: District of Columbia Department of Corrections v. DOES, No. 22-AA-0871, 10/08/2026, published.
Facts: Vera Brummell began working for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections in 1972.
In June 1993, she suffered an emotional breakdown following extended on-the-job harassment and retaliatory treatment. Brummell then began collecting temporary tota
The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that exclusivity did not apply to shield a company using a staffing provider’s services from civil liability for injuries sustained by the provider’s employee.
Case: Jefferson v. Johnson Concrete Co., No. COA26-41, 10/07/2026, published.
Facts: Johnson Concrete Co. is a North Carolina-based manufacturer of concrete blocks and pipes. Labor Finders is an employment-staffing company that assigned Robert Jefferson to work for JCC.
The contract between JCC and Labor Finders stated that the Labor Finders workers would be considered Labor Finde
A New York appellate court upheld the summary dismissal of a worker’s Labor Law and negligence claims arising from his alleged fall on construction debris.
Case: Nunez v. 672 Parkside LLC, Nos. 2024-07423 and 2025-01274, 10/07/2026, published.
Facts: Gustavo Nunez allegedly suffered injuries while working at a construction site in March 2018.
According to Nunez, he was tasked with cleaning the first floor of a building. While carrying a cabinet from one end of the floor to the other, he slipped and fell on a sheet of metal covered in construction debris.
Procedural history: Nune
The National Council on Compensation Insurance reported a final workers' compensation combined ratio of 90.6% for calendar year 2025, producing an underwriting gain of 9.4%.
The final pretax operating gain was 18.2%, while the investment gain on insurance transactions was 8.8%. Net written premium for the workers' compensation system totaled $41.6 billion.
NCCI also reported that claim frequency declined 2% in 2025 compared with 2024, while indemnity and medical claim severities each increased 4%.
NCCI said that while it is still early, preliminary analysis through the second quarte
The Ohio Supreme Court ordered an appeals court to dismiss a worker’s challenge to the denial of permanent total disability benefits because the worker died while the case was pending.
The high court rejected the argument that the 10th District Court of Appeals lost jurisdiction over the action when David McCartney died, but it agreed that his death rendered the action moot and that the specific facts of the case require the lower court to vacate its decision.
McCartney was receiving permanent partial disability benefits for a March 2001 injury sustained while working for Simco Managem
The Court of Appeals of the State of Nevada affirmed a district court decision ordering Clark County and Corvel Corp. to pay permanent total disability benefits to a retired firefighter.
Case: Clark County and Corvel Corp. v. Joseph Castiglia, No. 90771-COA, 10/08/2026, published.
Facts: Joseph Castiglia worked as a firefighter for Clark County for about 25 years before retiring in 2005. In 2014, he was diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
His occupational disease claim was accepted, and he was awarded medical benefits.
In 2022, his physician opined that the heart condition rendered him
The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that an injured worker either had to undergo the surgery recommended by two of his treating doctors or have his total disability benefits terminated.
Case: Galich v. SIPA North America Inc., No. COA25-512, 10/07/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Sergey Galich worked as a field service engineer for SIPA North America Inc. He injured his right shoulder at work in February 2020.
Galich was diagnosed with a right shoulder strain.
SIPA accepted liability for the injury, and Galich began receiving weekly payments of $1,066 from the company's worker
A Florida appellate court upheld an award of benefits for a firefighter’s cardiac condition against the first of his two employers, with which he worked when he developed heart disease.
Case: City of Maitland v. McGovern, No. 1D2025-2729, 10/07/2026, published.
Facts: William McGovern began working as a firefighter for the City of Maitland in 1988. He passed a preemployment physical with no evidence of heart disease.
In June 2012, McGovern had a cardiac stenting procedure performed after a heart catheterization revealed a 70% to 80% occlusion of his left anterior descending
A Columbus woman pleaded guilty to one count of fraud after investigators found out that she was taking disability benefits while working, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation said.
Betty Boateng, 50, worked as an in-home caregiver for more than one employer while accepting BWC disability benefits. The BWC said her benefit payments totaled $53,278.40.
In September, a judge ordered Boateng to serve 60 months of community control and imposed mandatory reporting requirements, restitution of the total benefit amount she received, and court costs.
“Fra
The average rates California employers pay for workers' compensation coverage may be increasing from historic lows following a decade of steady declines.
In a new analysis of insurer experience through June 30, the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau reported that the average charged rate in the first half of 2026 was $1.64 per $100 of payroll, a slight increase over the average charged rate of $1.63 in 2025.
The increase in the first half of 2026 is the first year-over-year increase in the average charged rate since 2014, when it rose to $3.19 from $3.10 the year before.&n
A New York appellate court ruled that an injured police officer’s petition for leave to file a late notice of claim was properly denied.
Case: Matter of Defonce v. Village of Port Chester, No. 2024-13266, 10/07/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Joseph Defonce, who worked for the Harrison Police Department, alleged that he was injured in a May 2023 motorcycle accident with an officer employed by the Village of Port Chester Police Department. The accident happened in the Village of Tarrytown.
He served the village with a claim notice in February 2024, more than eight m
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is leaving the determination that a retail seller of medical supplies is not a healthcare provider as the final word on the matter.
The high court on Tuesday denied a petition by Scomed Supply to review a Commonwealth Court decision finding that healthcare providers are entities that provide services rather than sell goods. As a result, the court said Scomed could not request hearings to contest fee review determinations to seek additional payment for products provided to an injured worker.
Scomed provided goods related to the use of a transcutaneous electrical
The Delaware Supreme Court upheld the denial of a worker’s benefits claim for damage to his lower teeth after he was struck in the head by a falling tree limb.
Case: Peed v. Essential Staffing Inc., No. 81, 2026, 10/05/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Craig Peed worked for Essential Staffing Inc. He suffered serious injuries in 2012 when a falling tree limb struck him on the head.
Essential’s insurance carrier paid Peed total disability benefits.
In 2016, Peed’s upper teeth began to fracture at the gum line. He received dental treatment, then filed a petitio