IL - Court Remands Case for Proper Traveling Employee Analysis
04/17/2026 | 0
The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission performed the wrong legal analysis in awarding death benefits to the surviving heir of a woman who died in a car crash while delivering supplies for her employer.
Though the commission may have correctly concluded that Grace Keeton's actions were not so reckless as to disqualify her estate from receiving death benefits, the 5th District Appellate Court of Illinois said the intentional misconduct analysis was ultimately irrelevant because she was a traveling employee.
"Thus, rather than requiring proof that decedent's actions...
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A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a jury’s award for a worker with mesothelioma, including an award of punitive damages, against a brewery for violating the state’s "safe-place statute."
Case: Estate of Lorbiecki v. Pabst Brewing Co., No. 2022AP723, 04/15/2026, published.
Facts: From the 1970s to the 2000s, Gerald Lorbiecki worked as a pipe fitter. He worked at many locations over the years, including a brewery owned by Pabst Brewing Co.
The brewery contained miles of asbestos-insulated pipe, and when Lorbiecki worked there, he and others would chip the insulati...
A federal appellate court ruled that a “year” of employment under the Black Lung Benefits Act occurs when a coal miner works 125 days or more in and around a coal mine during a one-year period.
Case: Baldwin v. OWCP, No. 23-1947, 03/19/2026, published.
Facts: Eddie Baldwin worked in Virginia coal mines for Island Creek Kentucky Mining from 1976 until 1991.
Procedural history: In July 2018, Baldwin filed a claim under the Black Lung Benefits Act.
A district director overseeing Baldwin’s claim issued a proposed decision and order in 2020, finding that Baldwin had been emplo...
A New York appellate court upheld an award of temporary total disability benefits to a worker paralyzed after a headfirst fall down a set of steps.
Case: In the Matter of the Claim of Mondesir v. Allied Universal, No. CV-24-1910, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Gregory Mondesir worked for Allied Universal as a security professional.
On March 20, 2022, Mondesir was walking down to a basement to change into his uniform before his shift when he slipped on wet steps and fell headfirst.
Mondesir was discovered approximately an hour later at the bottom of the stairs, unable to walk. He was ta...
I was talking at length last week with a good friend who works for a large payer, discussing the process of getting the organization to make significant, and very much needed, improvements to its managed care program.
This got me thinking: By no means is this situation unique to that one payer. If anything, resistance to change is a consistent thread throughout the workers' comp payer/buyer/service industry. Pondering this over the weekend, I came up with a few warning signs and reasons for the resistance.
Warnings signs
Statements such as "We've alway...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his injuries from a fall from a ladder.
Case: Escudero v. Belmont Ave 2321 LLC, No. 800463/22, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Danilo Veliz Escudero suffered injuries in a fall from a ladder while working on a construction project at a property owned by Belmont Ave 2321 LLC.
Escudero testified that he had to use the ladder to reach the ceiling, and that the ceiling was "a little more" than 6 feet high. While Escudero was tightening a coupling on a pipe in the ceiling, ...
The Governing Committee for the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau on Wednesday voted 8-0 to recommend that the California insurance commissioner increase the advisory pure premium rate by 10.4%, effective Sept. 1.
The most notable drivers of the second consecutive double-digit rate increase include increased frequency of cumulative trauma claims as well as higher medical costs and allocated loss adjustment expenses, the WCIRB said.
According to documents posted to the WCIRB website, cumulative trauma claims accounted for about 26.4% of all indemnity claims in 2024, nearly dou...
The Assembly Insurance Committee unanimously passed a bill that would permanently allow employers and carriers to use prepaid debit cards to provide workers' compensation benefits.
The committee on Wednesday voted 17-0 to pass AB 1683, which would eliminate the Jan. 1, 2027, sunset date for the pilot program lawmakers in 2018 modeled after the program the Employment Development Department uses to pay unemployment and state disability insurance benefits.
The pilot was originally scheduled to sunset at the start of 2023, but lawmakers extended it several times to provide more time for the ...
Oklahoma lawmakers are sending the governor a bill that would allow employers to implement more restrictive policies relating to their employees' use of medical cannabis.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 41-5 to pass HB 3127, which would allow employers to designate more jobs as "safety-sensitive" positions.
Current law prohibits employers from firing medical cannabis license holders solely based on a positive drug test unless they are under the influence while at work or are in "safety-sensitive" positions, defined as jobs that include duties that the employer reas...
The Minnesota Court of Appeals refused to let a basketball referee sue his employer for a courtside assault during a recreational game, ruling that he failed to satisfy a narrow legal exception that requires an attack to be wholly unrelated to employment.
The assault exception to exclusivity applies only when a third party intentionally injures a worker for reasons that have nothing to do with the job. Because the altercation stemmed from Philip Ayeni's officiating duties and there was no evidence that his attackers were motivated by personal reasons unrelated to his employment, the Minne...
An Ohio appellate court upheld a fee award of $4,200 for a worker in a long-running dispute over his entitlement to benefits, even though the fees he actually incurred far exceeded this amount, the statutory maximum available.
Case: Shields v. McCloud, No. 115499, 03/19/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Michael Shields worked as a mechanic for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. He injured his left shoulder at work in 2015.
The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation allowed Shields’ claim for a left shoulder strain.
In 2017, Shields sought benefits for an al...
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the denial of duty disability retirement benefits to an injured police officer.
Case: State ex rel. Lara v. City of Milwaukee, No. 2024AP1685, 03/18/2026, published.
Facts: Benjean F. Lara worked as an officer for the Milwaukee Police Department for 17 years. In September 2019, Lara fell and hit his head while working.
Lara began seeing Dr. Gerald Nora, a physician specializing in brain injury rehabilitation, who provided ongoing care and treatment for a mild traumatic brain injury.
Lara also underwent multiple independent medical examinations conducte...
A New York appellate court ruled that a Labor Law defendant was not entitled to summary judgment dismissing a worker’s claims for her injuries from a scaffold accident.
Case: Castro v. City of New York, No. 33106/19, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Korrein Castro suffered injuries when a scaffold she was using rolled and one of its legs went into a hole, causing the structure to tip over and onto her.
Procedural history: Castro filed suit against the City of New York, asserting claims for negligence and violations of the Labor Law.
The city moved for summary judgment dismissing Ca...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker who fell from a makeshift platform was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim.
Case: DaSilva v. Super P57 LLC, No. 160766/17, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Ivoir DaSilva suffered injuries in a fall while working on a construction project.
According to DaSilva, he was standing on a plank that was 3 to 4.5 feet above a metal awning when the unsecured plank suddenly shifted and tipped. He then fell onto the awning.
DaSilva claimed there were no tie-off points at least 2 feet above where he was standing on the plank and that...
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill that would ensure workers' compensation coverage is available for volunteer firefighters and paramedics who are injured during organized fundraising activities.
The House on Tuesday voted 199-2 to pass HB 2087, which would say these volunteers are considered employees while they are participating in such events.
Rep. Robert Freeman, D-Easton, said that though courts have authorized benefits for volunteers, the workers aren't explicitly covered, as a matter of law.
Precedent from cases decided in the 1970s and 1980s holds th...
The Hawaii Senate returned amended bills addressing treatment plans, vocational rehabilitation and functional capacity exams to the state House of Representatives for additional debate.
The Senate on Tuesday voted 25-0 to pass HB 1509, HB 1514 and HB 1515.
HB 1509 would authorize penalties if employers don't file a timely response accepting or objecting to a physician's proposed treatment plan.
The bill was amended in the Senate to require employers to file a response within seven days, instead of 10 days as the bill initially proposed.
To justify a denial, employers would be...
