CA - Bill Would Expand Limitations on Athlete Claims
05/20/2026 | 0
California lawmakers are again moving to restrict the ability of professional athletes to file cumulative trauma claims in the state.
And just as the previous effort to clamp down on professional athlete claims was contemporaneous with the SB 863 reforms — when the system was dealing with costs associated with, among other things, cumulative trauma claims and allocated loss adjustment expenses — the latest effort arrives as the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau reports that both metrics have reached all-time highs.
The WCIRB cited cumulative trauma claim fre...
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IA - Court Sends Truck Driver's Disability Claim Back for Review
The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday revived part of a truck driver’s workers' compensation challenge, ruling that the state workers' compensation commissioner misapplied the American Medical Association impairment guides when reducing the worker’s permanent disability rating.
In Kevin Koeller v. Cardinal Logistics Management Corp. and Ace American Insurance Co., the high court affirmed in part and vacated in part a Court of Appeals ruling and remanded the case for further proceedings.
Kevin Koeller worked as a semitruck driver for Cardinal Logistics and was injured Oct. 5, 2...
The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that exclusivity shielded a company that used a staffing service provider from a civil suit by an injured employee.
Case: King v. Dayco Inc., No. W2025-00262-COA-R3-CV, 04/29/2026, published.
Facts: Pro-Man Staffing Solutions LLC contracted with Dayco Inc. to provide workers.
Keith King was employed by Pro-Man and assigned to work for Dayco.
King allegedly suffered injuries while working at Dayco’s property in June 2023 when he drove a forklift over plywood, and the vehicle fell through.
Procedural history: King filed a civil suit again...
A New York appellate court ruled that the defendants in a Labor Law action were not entitled to summary judgment because there were triable issues as to whether they were entitled to the homeowners' exemption.
Case: Johnson v. Cremoux, No. 2022-00326, 04/29/2026, published.
Facts: Anthony Johnson worked for Scott Bavosa Construction Corp. He was working on a renovation project at a property owned by Gerard and Catherine Cremoux when a table saw blade allegedly caught on his glove and cut off two fingers on his left hand.
Procedural history: Johnson filed suit against the Cremo...
A New York appellate court upheld a grant of summary judgment that found a carrier had a duty to defend its insured from a lawsuit by two injured workers.
Case: Authority Fleet Services Corp. v. Amtrust North America Inc., No. 2024-06886, 04/29/2026, published.
Facts: In September 2022, Joshua Devito and Brian Guilfoil allegedly suffered injuries while working on a construction project.
Both men worked for 1-888-Junk-Demo Inc., which had contracted with Authority Fleet Services Corp. for work on the project.
Procedural history: Devito and Guilfoil filed suit against Authority, which r...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals overturned a finding of compensability for a worker’s injuries from a fall, since she did not file a claim within six months of her accident.
Case: ECM Energy Services Inc. v. Spencer, No. 25-ICA-345, 05/01/2026, published.
Facts: Etta Spencer worked for ECM Energy Services Inc. as a traffic controller. She filed a report of injury, asserting that she suffered injuries from a fall at work on Dec. 31, 2023. Spencer attempted to report the incident to her employer via text message, but due to her location, the text did not go through.
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Sixty-three percent of health care executives worry that added demands on employees could lead to more workplace injuries, as labor shortages and heavier workloads strain the sector, according to a report released Monday by Sentry Insurance.
The insurer’s 2026 “C-Suite Stress Index: Healthcare,” based on a Wakefield Research survey of 1,250 U.S. executives, including 111 from health care organizations, found that health care workers are being asked to do more with less.
Fifty-one percent of health care executives said employees are being asked to work longer hours or take f...
A Florida appellate court affirmed a trial court ruling allowing the estate of a minor league baseball player to pursue a medical malpractice claim against a team doctor, holding that state law applies and does not bar the claim under workers’ compensation exclusivity principles.
Ryan Costello was a professional baseball player for two Florida-based minor league affiliates of the Minnesota Twins.
In March 2019, the Twins arranged for Costello to undergo a medical evaluation in Fort Myers to determine whether he was medically fit to participate in the team's spring training pro...
A New York appellate court upheld the summary dismissal of a worker’s Labor Law claims against the owners of a private residence.
Case: Kingstone Insurance Co. v. Barranco, No. 2022-00623, 04/29/2026, published.
Facts: Alejandro Perez Barranco worked for LSM Electrical Contracting Inc. He allegedly suffered injuries when he fell from a ladder while working on the outside wall of a one-family residence in Brooklyn owned by Marat and Marina Fronshtein.
Marat Fromshtein was the owner of LSM.
Procedural history: Barranco filed suit against the Fronshteins, asserting claims for violations...
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claim based on his inconsistent accounts of the alleged accident.
Case: Ramirez v. 2500 Webb LLC, No. 813626/21, 04/28/2026, published.
Facts: Moises Ramirez filed a Labor Law claim asserting that he suffered injuries while disassembling a sidewalk bridge when a pipe fell while a co-worker disconnected it from a vertical post.
Ramirez also filed a workers’ compensation claim based on the same alleged accident, and on his claim form, he stated it was a vertical support pipe that struck him.
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A federal appellate court ruled that a volunteer firefighter injured while responding to a boat fire on the Hudson River was entitled to the warranty of seaworthiness and that his receipt of compensation under New York’s Volunteer Firefighters’ Benefit Law did not bar his negligence claim under general maritime law.
Case: In re: In the Matter of the Complaint of Verplanck Fire District, No. 23-1218, 04/30/2026, published.
Facts: Troy Dyckman served as a volunteer firefighter with the Verplanck Fire District. Dyckman injured his foot while traveling aboard a ship owned b...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a determination that a mine worker’s arm injuries were compensable despite his initial report of a nonwork-related accident.
Case: ACNR Resources v. Banco, No. 25-ICA-386, 05/01/2026, published.
Facts: Thomas Banco worked for ACNR Resources as a compliance foreman and fireboss.
On May 5, 2025, he sought medical treatment for pain and swelling in his left elbow. He said he slipped and fell on his elbow while he was chasing his granddaughter the day before.
An X-ray showed a proximal avulsion fracture and findings suggesting a ...
The California Division of Workers' Compensation released a Newsline to clarify the use of request for authorization forms under new utilization review rules that took effect April 1.
Rules the division said were adopted to streamline and standardize the medical treatment authorization process formally define a request for authorization as a written request for a specific course of treatment.
"The regulations mandate that this request be set forth on the DWC Form RFA (as found in Section 9785.5) and completed by the treating physician," the division said in Newsline 2026-4...
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill creating a presumption of compensability for firefighters who suffer strokes.
The governor on Friday signed H 3163, adding coverage for strokes to the law, which presumes that heart or respiratory disease that develops during or within 24 hours of fighting a fire is compensable.
Additionally, the bill covers strokes and heart or respiratory disease that develop during or within 24 hours of a training exercise involving stressful or strenuous physical activity or a technical rescue incident.
H 3163 also expressly declares that the presum...
California lawmakers advanced a bill proposing changes to the state's second injury fund ahead of a key legislative deadline, and they put a hold on a measure that would make denying a request to receive treatment during the workday a form of discrimination.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 11-4 to pass AB 1576 off its suspense file, setting up the bill for a vote by the full Assembly. The committee held AB 2098 "under submission" on the same day, meaning it did not move to the floor ahead of Friday's deadline for fiscal committees to pass bills.
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