IA - Deputy Commissioner Errs in Dismissing Worker's Claim
11/07/2025 | 0
The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that a deputy workers’ compensation commissioner erred in dismissing a worker’s claim for lack of causation and for lack of timely notice.
Anthony Culpepper worked for CNH Industrial America LLC. He suffered a herniated disc while working on the production line in 2007, and he changed to a material specialist position. Although Culpepper used a forklift to perform most of his duties, the job required frequent bending, twisting and flexing of his neck.
About 10 years later, CNH reassigned Culpepper to work as a quality specialist. This work inv...
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A New York appellate court ruled that the third-party defendants in a Labor Law action were entitled to summary judgment dismissing the breach of contract claims against them.
Case: Grala v. Structural Preservation Systems LLC, No. 2021-02645, 10/29/2025, published.
Facts: Pawel Grala worked for Apex Development Inc. He allegedly suffered injuries while working at a construction site controlled by the New York City Housing Authority when he slipped and fell on fluids leaking from a forklift owned by Structural Preservation Systems LLC.
Procedural history: Grala filed suit against Structural...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his fall from a ladder.
Case: Pilapanta v. Hudson 888 Owner LLC, No. 152726/20 595476/20, 10/30/2025, published.
Facts: Jose Pilapanta allegedly suffered injuries when he fell from a ladder while drilling metal framing material into the ceiling of a building.
Pilapanta said he was standing with both feet on the fourth step of an A-frame ladder when he felt it suddenly move and fall for an unknown reason, causing him to fall with it.
Pilapanta’s superinten...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld an award of benefits for a volunteer firefighter’s death from esophageal cancer.
Case: Upper Merion Township VFD v. Dolga (WCAB), No.1638 C.D. 2024, 11/03/2025, unpublished.
Facts: James Dolga served as a volunteer firefighter from 1974 to 2019. In September 2019, he was diagnosed with metastatic esophageal cancer.
Dolga died in April 2020, and his widow filed a claim for dependency benefits.
Procedural history: A workers’ compensation judge granted the widow’s petition.
The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board affirmed.
...
Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that he will push for changes to the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund in 2026, according to the governor’s veto message of a bill that would have changed how the fund operates.
The California governor vetoed Assembly Bill 1329 in early October, which would have made some procedural changes to how injured workers could get benefits from the beleaguered fund.
For those unfamiliar with the SIBTF, lawmakers originally created it as California’s version of a second injury fund to encourage World War II veterans to retur...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a 4% permanent partial disability award for a worker’s injuries from a fall.
Case: Bush v. State Agencies of West Virginia, No. 25-ICA-174, 10/24/2025, published.
Facts: Stephanie Bush worked for the State Agencies of West Virginia.
In May 2020, she saw physician assistant Justin Clay, who noted that Bush’s chronic medical conditions included being overweight and osteoarthritis of the right hip.
In August 2023, Bush tripped and fell while at work.
A claims administrator for her employer’s insurance carrier accept...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled that a restaurant worker did not prove the compensability of his foot injury.
Case: Wolfe v. BBL Hospitality LLC, No. 25-ICA-173, 10/24/2025, published.
Facts: Gregory Wolfe was the general manager of a restaurant for BBL Hospitality LLC. As he was walking at work in May 2024, he allegedly felt a “pop” in his right foot.
BBL completed a report of injury, which stated that Wolfe had felt a “snap” in his foot; that he did not know what caused the incident; that he did not fall or slip; and that there was nothing...
Registration is still open for the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau's 2025 geo study, which aims to provide fresh perspectives on regional trends shaping workers’ comp in California.
Topics will include indemnity claim frequency and severity, medical costs, loss development and large claims, and allocated loss adjustment expenses.
Webinar presenters include Tony Milano, WCIRB executive vice president and chief actuary; Laura Carstensen, vice president of actuarial research; and Shane Steele, research actuary.
The one-hour geo study webinar start...
The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld a determination that a worker’s degloving injuries to his arm and leg were schedule injuries.
Mecene Laguerre worked for JBS USA Holdings Inc. at a meatpacking facility. His job normally involved cutting the tongues of hog carcasses, but one day in October 2021, Laguerre was ordered to work a different position as a skinner.
The skinner checks hog carcasses for feces. If a carcass were contaminated, Laguerre was supposed to flag it, and his co-workers would remove the hog from the line to clean it.
When trying to remove a flagged hog, on...
A California appellate court has denied rehearing of a dispute about the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board's jurisdiction over claims filed by professional athletes.
Last month, the 4th District Court of Appeal issued a published decision in Atlanta Falcons v. WCAB, which rejected the board’s position that it could hear Wayne Gandy’s claim because he had signed his rookie contract in California.
Gandy started his professional football career in 1994 after being drafted as an offensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams. The team relocated to St. Louis in 1995, where G...
The Arizona Court of Appeals clarified the burden of proof on a firefighter seeking benefits for his rare form of brain cancer.
Case: Vande Krol v. Industrial Commission, No. 1 CA-IC 22-0046, 10/31/2025, unpublished.
Facts: Robert Vande Krol began working for the Superstition Fire and Medical Department in 2002.
When he was hired, Vande Krol underwent a physical examination, which showed no signs of cancer.
In August 2020, as part of his required annual examination, Vande Krol underwent a full-body cancer screening, which found a tumor in his brain.
In October 2020, Vande Krol u...
A New York appellate court ruled that an injured worker’s employer was not entitled to dismissal of the claims against it for indemnification, but the claims against it for breach of contract and attorney fees should have been dismissed.
Case: Pacheco v. Georgetown Eleventh Avenue Owners LLC, No. 157529/17, 10/28/2025, published.
Facts: Jose Pacheco allegedly suffered injuries while working for Cauldwell-Wingate Co. LLC on a construction project for Georgetown Eleventh Avenue Owners LLC.
Procedural history: Pacheco filed suit against Georgetown, which then filed suit against Cauldwell...
A New York appellate court ruled that the conflicting accounts of a worker’s alleged accident made summary judgment on his Labor Law claim inappropriate.
Case: Rosario v. Gentry Tenants Co-op, No. 155290/15 595785/16, 10/30/2025, published.
Facts: Fransico Rosario allegedly suffered injuries while transporting a water tank on a hand truck up a short set of stairs.
Rosario said he and a co-worker were holding one of the truck’s handles while two other workers pushed from the bottom.
The co-worker holding the other handle cut his hand on the water tank as the group was ...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld an increase in a worker’s permanent partial disability award for a broken leg.
Case: Blackhawk Mining LLC v. Weis, No. 25-ICA-32, 10/24/2025, published.
Facts: Christian Weis worked for Blackhawk Mining LLC. He filed a workers’ compensation claim for an injury to his left leg, which occurred on Oct. 5, 2022.
Weis said he was driving a truck and came around a corner, hit another vehicle and became pinned inside the cab.
On Oct. 6, 2022, Weis underwent an open reduction internal fixation of the left tibia.
A cl...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a 13% permanent partial disability award for a worker’s wrist injury.
Case: Murray American Energy Inc. v. Gasvoda, No. 25-ICA-78, 10/24/2025, published.
Facts: Joseph Gasvoda worked for Murray American Energy Inc. He injured his wrist at work in June 2019.
A claims administrator for Murray’s insurance carrier accepted liability for a wrist sprain.
In June 2019, Gasvoda underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan. Gasvoda had a scapholunate ligament injury and scaphoid fracture nonunion when he was younger. The MRI show...
The Texas Division of Workers' Compensation said Trinity Couriers Inc. pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining workers’ compensation insurance coverage and agreed to pay $800,000 in restitution to Texas Mutual Insurance Co.
Fraud investigators with the DWC showed that between 2016 and 2018, Trinity underreported its payroll to Texas Mutual for workers’ compensation coverage.
Trinity Couriers is one of several delivery services that share common control and ownership under Mike Miller of Miller Transportation Management, which required disclosure. Failing to disclos...