MN - Supreme Court Says Compensation Judge Can Determine Worker's Competency to Settle Claims
05/27/2025 | 0
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a compensation judge has jurisdiction to determine whether a worker with a traumatic brain injury required the assistance of a conservator to settle his claims and whether his agreements with his employer should be set aside.
Bobby Lykins worked for Anderson Contracting Inc. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and other physical injuries from an explosion at his workplace in September 2015.
Anderson admitted liability for Lykins’ injuries. Through mediation, Anderson and Lykins reached a tentative settlement of $630,000 of his claim in April...
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The Rhode Island Supreme Court upheld the summary dismissal of an injured worker’s civil action for injuries from the allegedly negligent maintenance of an asphalt distribution truck.
Case: Boggs v. Johnston Asphalt LLC, No. 2024-91-Appeal, 05/22/2025, published.
Facts: William Boggs worked for All States Asphalt Inc. While he was transferring liquid asphalt from a tanker truck to a distribution truck in the course of his work, he was sprayed with liquid asphalt, resulting in burns to his face and body.
Procedural history: All States paid workers’ compensation benefits to Boggs....
The 9th Court of Appeals denied a petition to review an administrative decision that found a worker was not entitled to benefits for cumulative knee injuries under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
Under the act, an injured worker making an initial showing of a harm that was caused or aggravated by a workplace condition triggers a statutory presumption that the harm was caused by the workplace condition. The employer can rebut the presumption with substantial evidence that is “specific and comprehensive enough to sever the potential connection b...
A New York appellate court upheld a partial grant of summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claim for his injuries from a dolly load that fell on him.
Case: Hernandez v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, No. 24386/16, 05/01/2025, published.
Facts: The owners of the World Trade Center Oculus Project property hired Structure Tone Inc. as the general contractor to oversee the pre-build-outs of retail stores.
Structure Tone subcontracted the drywall work to Centre Street Systems Inc. After the pre-build-out of an Apple Store was completed in March 2016, the premises was tu...
Employers' liability insurance policies generally exclude coverage for intentional wrongs committed against employees, even if those employees also pursue workers' compensation claims.
Michael Bunting was severely injured on the job at Emil A. Schroth Inc. when a baler broke and fell on his foot. He initially received $138,000 through his employer's workers' compensation insurance from New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co.
However, Bunting sought further compensation, alleging that his injury was due to Schroth's "gross negligence and intentional wrongdoing...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a worker’s request to expand the scope of her claim to include additional injuries and treatment.
Case: Schumacher v. Brightspring Healthcare Services, No. 24-ICA-414, 04/29/2025, published.
Facts: Sandra Schumacher worked for Brightspring Healthcare Services. She slipped and fell at work in April 2021.
Schumacher sought treatment at MedExpress Clarksburg. Upon physical examination, the right patella and right medial knee were tender to palpitation. X-rays of the knee revealed normal alignment and no evidence of ...
A pair of Florida men pleaded guilty to operating a long-running payroll scheme that skirted more than $10 million in federal tax and defrauded workers' compensation carriers.
Michael Mayorga and Francisco Alvarez on Thursday entered their pleas in court for the Middle District of Florida. Each faces a maximum of five years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
From 2015 to 2022, Mayorga and Alvarez conspired to pay cash to undocumented construction workers, created shell companies to cash checks, and prepared false tax returns, the government said. They cashed mor...
The Vermont General Assembly last week delivered to the governor a bill that would allow injured workers to request medical case management services, and it would create new penalties for late benefit payments.
Lawmakers on Thursday sent the governor Senate Bill 117, a multifaceted measure addressing wage and hour laws, unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation.
The bill would declare that injured workers are entitled to medical case management services if recommended by a health care provider or if the injured worker provides evidence demonstrating that the services would benefi...
Texas lawmakers sent the governor a bill that aims to alleviate the problem of retaliatory taxes levied on insurance carriers domiciled in the state by reclassifying some taxes as surcharges.
Lawmakers on Thursday sent the governor SB 1455, by Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, D-Denton, which would change to a "surcharge" the maintenance tax levied on carriers and self-insured employers to finance the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
An analysis of the measure says some states require carriers to pay the difference between the overall tax rate where they’re operating and the over...
A New York appellate court upheld a determination that an elderly worker with cancer demonstrated extreme hardship that warranted reclassification.
Linda Epstein worked as a meat wrapper at Waldbaums for 44 years. She suffered an on-the-job injury in 2011.
In 2014, Epstein was classified with a permanent partial disability and found to have sustained an 81% loss of wage-earning capacity.
Before the exhaustion of her indemnity benefits, Epstein submitted an extreme hardship redetermination request.
Under New York law, if a partially disabled worker has a loss of wage-earning capac...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an Amazon employee was entitled only to temporary partial disability benefits after an injury because he remained able to work.
Case: Amazon.com Services LLC v. Carlson, No. 381 C.D. 2024, 05/07/2025, unpublished.
Facts: Timothy Carlson worked for Amazon.com Services LLC as a fulfillment center associate. He injured his neck at work in April 2022.
Carlson received restrictions on his work activities, and Amazon told him that the restrictions could be accommodated only in a night-shift position. When Carlson responded that he was unable ...
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a grant of summary judgment dismissing the negligence claim by a worker who fell into a vat of molten lead against the company that had hired his employer to perform maintenance work.
Case: Johnson v. Exide Technologies Inc., No. 23-3528, 05/08/2025, published.
Facts: Trenton Johnson worked for Concorp Inc., which had an oral agreement with Exide Technologies Inc. to perform maintenance work at an Exide facility in Kansas City, Missouri.
Johnson went to the Exide facility to replace a belt inside a conveyor that Concorp had installed months earli...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding that a deputy sheriff’s cervical stenosis was unrelated to his work injury.
Case: Price v. Raleigh County Commission, No. 24-ICA-411, 04/29/2025, published.
Facts: Matthew Price worked for Raleigh County as a deputy sheriff. He injured his left shoulder at work while trying to force open a door in March 2023.
On the day of his injury, Price saw a nurse practitioner who noted that Price had pain in his shoulder, upper arm, neck and down to the left upper part of his back.
An X-ray of the left shou...
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments in a case that seeks to clarify the appropriate standards for the aggravation of preexisting conditions.
The high court will hear oral arguments in Jo Carol Edwards v. Peoplease, a direct appeal of a workers’ compensation case stemming from a 2020 injury.
Edwards suffered injuries to both her knees in a vehicle accident while working for Peoplease. The employer accepted the claim and authorized medical treatment.
Edwards consulted four orthopedic surgeons for pain and loss of function in both knees, and all agreed that she su...
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that a commercial bakery in New Jersey agreed to pay $180,000 in penalties to resolve litigation over failure to abate hazards cited during an inspection.
OSHA said it investigated Valenti’s Bakery in Paterson in June 2023 after an employee partially amputated a finger. The agency said its inspectors returned in 2024 for a follow-up inspection and found that hazards had not been abated.
It’s not clear from the statement whether any citations were issued after the first visit. OSHA did not describe the nature of t...
The Workers Compensation Research Institute reports that total costs per claim in Minnesota increased about 10% annually from 2021 to 2023.
WCRI said rising wages, longer duration of temporary disability and increased medical payments per claim were the main drivers of the recent cost growth following stability during the first two years of the pandemic.
“Minnesota is not alone in seeing growth in overall costs per claim from 2021 to 2023,” said Sebastian Negrusa, vice president of research at WCRI. “Nearly all study states experienced cost growth since 2021, after cost dec...