TX - Supreme Court Says Employer Should Have Gotten Extension to File Postjudgment Motions
05/13/2025 | 0
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that a nonsubscribing employer should have been granted an extension of time to file its postjudgment motions for relief from a jury’s $7.1 million verdict in favor of an injured worker.
Nicole Tarpley worked for Red Bluff LLC as a certified nursing assistant. Red Bluff was a nonsubscriber to the workers’ compensation system, so when she allegedly suffered an on-the-job injury, she filed a civil suit against her employer.
Based on a jury verdict in her favor, a trial court awarded her $7.1 million on claims for negligence and premises liability....
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A New York appellate court upheld the denial of summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claim, not because of the homeowners' exemption applied by the trial justice, but because of a triable issue as to the type of work being performed.
Case: Lopez v. Classic Day Care Corp., No. 2023-09164, 04/23/2025, published.
Facts and procedural history: Esteban Mora Lopez allegedly suffered injuries while working on a construction project at premises owned by Jevgenija Lobica.
He filed suit against Lobica, asserting a claim for a violation of Labor Law Section 240(1).
Section 240(1) i...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding that a worker had no permanent disability from a knee sprain.
Case: Lawson v. Service Cleaners Inc., No. 24-ICA-363, 04/29/2025, published.
Facts: Vicki Lawson worked for Service Cleaners Inc. She filed a workers’ compensation claim for a knee injury after she slipped and fell at work in November 2021.
A claims administrator for SC’s insurance carrier accepted liability for a knee sprain.
Lawson saw a nurse practitioner in March 2022 and reported that she had pain and swelling in her left knee since she fell a...
The Appeals Court of Massachusetts upheld the denial of accidental disability retirement benefits for a municipal employee with irreparable shoulder injuries.
Case: Sibley v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board, No. 24-P-741, 05/05/2025, unpublished.
Facts: Michael Sibley worked for the Northfield Highway Department, performing heavy labor. He began to experience pain in his right shoulder in 2001, but he did not report it to his supervisors.
In 2006, Sibley was diagnosed with a massive and irreparable tear of his right rotator cuff. By 2010, he had started receiving medical treatment for ...
Across the nation, providers struggle to treat injured workers without financially damaging their practices. The problem is especially ugly in California, where extreme reimbursement discounting is rampant.
One diabolical discounter is the City of Long Beach, which paid a doctor just $32.08 to treat an injured worker — a mere 22% of the Official Medical Fee Schedule rate and only 33% of the Medicare rate.
This self-insured, self-administering public employer gutted a physician’s reimbursement using a toxic combination of ...
Prosecutors dismissed workers’ compensation fraud charges filed against the manager of a Texas barbecue restaurant for insufficient evidence, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Charges against Alison Clem, manager of La Barbecue, were dropped April 16, the newspaper reported. Charges filed against LeAnn Mueller, the restaurant owner, were dismissed in August 2023, according to the American-Statesman.
The Texas Department of Insurance in 2022 released a statement alleging that Clem and Mueller participated in a scheme to defraud a work comp carrier out of $350,000 by purchasing a b...
The U.S. Department of Labor said an investigation into teenager’s injury resulted in nearly $65,000 in penalties against a Pennsylvania metal manufacturer for violations of child labor and workplace safety rules.
The department said its Wage and Hour Division and Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an investigation into Fostermation Inc. after a 16-year-old lost the tip of his thumb while operating a metal forming machine in 2024.
The department said the Meadville manufacturing company exposed employees to at least six serious workplace safety hazards, including machi...
Four men who participated in a prescription referral kickback scheme received prison sentences, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
John Ageudo Rodriguez, 55; Mohammad Imtiaz Chowdhury, 44; Hector de la Cruz Jr., 54; and Alex Flores Jr., 55, pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay kickbacks to medical practitioners in exchange for referrals to Rodriguez's pharmacy in Pharr, Texas.
Rodriguez was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison. The other three defendants, who acted as "marketers," also received time behind bars. ...
The National Council on Compensation Insurance on Monday donated $25,000 to Kids’ Chance of America in conjunction with its Annual Issues Symposium 2025 golf tournament in Orlando, Florida.
Kids' Chance of America and its 50 state affiliates provide scholarships for children of people who were injured or killed in workplace accidents. Together, the network of Kids’ Chance affiliates has awarded more than 11,000 scholarships totaling more than $42 million.
“NCCI's annual golf tournament is an opportunity for the insurance community to come together in support of ...
The South Carolina Senate confirmed the reappointment of three members of the Workers’ Compensation Commission.
The Senate on Thursday confirmed the reappointments of T. Scott Beck, R. Michael Campbell II and Gene McCaskill.
Beck was reappointed as chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Commission for a term that runs through June 30, 2026. Beck was first appointed to the commission in 2008.
McCaskill, who was originally appointed in 2021, and Campbell, first appointed in 2014, were confirmed for terms that end June 30, 2030.
The South Carolina Workers’ Compensati...
A federal court ordered the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Administration to reinstate a judge it fired in November for erroneously indicating on a time sheet that she used two hours of administrative leave to vote.
The U.S. District Court for New Mexico on Friday denied the state’s motion to dismiss a complaint filed by Shanon Riley, one day after it granted her request for a preliminary injunction reinstating her as a workers’ compensation judge.
The court, in granting the injunction, held that Riley is likely to prevail with her due process claims because the Worke...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker who was sprayed in the face by sandblasting equipment should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim.
Case: Castellon v. 38 East 85th Street Inc., No. 2022-06455, 04/23/2025, published.
Facts: Elder Castellon allegedly suffered injuries while moving an air compressor and sandblasting equipment at a construction site when the discharge hose disconnected from the sandblaster, causing air and sand to strike him in the face.
The construction site was at a property owned by 38 East 85th Street Inc., and the general contractor was R...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a health care worker’s claim for a knee injury.
Case: Perine v. Genesis Healthcare LLC, No. 24-ICA-415, 04/29/2025, published.
Facts: Laura Perine worked for Genesis Healthcare LLC as a nursing assistant. She allegedly suffered injuries at work in August 2023.
On the day of her alleged injury, Perine went to MedExpress and reported right knee pain but was unable to identify the cause. She was diagnosed with a strain of the hamstring muscle.
About two weeks later, Perine returned to MedExpress and again comp...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a determination that a worker who fell from a scaffold was an employee of a subcontractor on a construction project as opposed to an independent contractor or special employee of the general contractor.
Case: D&R Construction v. Suarez, Nos. 912 CD 2023 and 913 CD 2023, 04/28/2025, unpublished.
Facts and procedural history: Hector Suarez fell approximately three floors from scaffolding while working on a construction project in August 2010.
Suarez filed a workers’ compensation claim against D&R Construction. He named Travelers Insu...
The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that a worker’s failure to name his former attorney as a party was fatal to his appeal.
Case: Porter v. Axelon Inc., No. 2024-CA-1030-WC, 05/02/2025, unpublished.
Facts and procedural history: Kelly Porter worked for Axelon Inc. In March 2017, an administrative law judge found that Porter had suffered a compensable back injury in March 2017 and awarded benefits.
The ALJ issued amended opinions and awards in May and June 2021.
On appeal, the Workers’ Compensation Board affirmed in part the second amended opinion and award and remanded the...
The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit alleging that the U.S. Postal Service illegally reported a worker for reporting a workplace injury.
The letter carrier, whose name is redacted in a copy of the complaint that the Labor Department posted online, broke a finger on her left hand when she slipped and fell while delivering mail on Feb. 17, 2024.
The complaint alleges that the employee’s supervisor instructed that she could not go immediately to the hospital for treatment in her work vehicle and instead needed to return to the post office, complete paperwork and then go to th...