DC - Worker With Total Disability From Injury to Schedule Member Can Still Get Wage-Loss Award
10/28/2026 | 0
The District of Columbia’s highest court ruled that a worker who proves permanent total disability can receive wage-loss benefits even if the situs of his disability is a schedule member.
Burnice Stackhouse worked for the District of Columbia Department of Public Works. He injured his right ankle in 1993 and began receiving temporary disability benefits from the District of Columbia Workers’ Compensation Program.
In 2020, the Office of Risk Management informed Stackhouse that he was approaching the 500-week statutory cap on temporary disability benefits. Stackhouse was
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The Idaho Supreme Court reinstated a worker’s civil suit against a subcontractor on a construction project, finding that a trial judge erred in dismissing the suit as barred by exclusivity.
Case: Bauer v. Scott Myers and Sons Roofing and Construction LLC, No. 52706-2025, 10/22/2026, published.
Facts: Stack Construction LLC was the general contractor on a construction project for an apartment complex. Stack hired Scott Myers and Sons Roofing and Construction LLC as a subcontractor. Stack also hired Evans Plumbing Inc. as a subcontractor.
Alexander Bauer worked for Evans. He suffer
A New York appellate court overturned a partial grant of summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claim due to triable issues as to how his accident occurred.
Case: Mema v. Procida Construction Corp., No. 20484/20, 10/20/2026, published.
Facts: Ferid Mema worked for Mastercraft Masonry Inc. He allegedly suffered injuries when a 400-pound beam he was carrying fell on his foot.
Procedural history: Mema filed suit against Procida Construction Corp., asserting claims for negligence and violations of Labor Law Sections 200 and 240(1).
Section 200 codifies the common-law duty to
A New York appellate court overturned a grant of summary judgment to a worker on his Labor Law claim for his alleged injuries from being struck by falling construction material.
Case: Gonzalez v. Chatsworth Builders LLC, No. 814285/23, 10/20/2026, published.
Facts: Francisco Javier Gonzalez allegedly suffered injuries while he was transporting more than 300 pounds of construction material on an overloaded A-frame cart. According to Gonzalez, the material and cart flipped over and fell on him, causing injuries to his neck and back.
Procedural history: Gonzalez filed suit against Chatsworth B
Three years after injury, injured workers represented by attorneys have lower health scores than similar injured workers who aren’t represented.
That’s the main takeaway from a rigorous study conducted by the estimable David Neumark and Bogdan Savych of the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
That’s despite the fact that represented workers’ medical costs are double those of non-represented workers’ medical payments, and indemnity payments are also higher for represented than non-represented workers.
The study, which was based on about
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a utility construction company for repeatedly exposing workers to excavation hazards.
OSHA investigated Always Underground LLC as part of its National Emphasis Program on Trenching after seeing workers in an unprotected trench deeper than 8 feet.
The Frankfort-based employer was cited for three repeat violations for failing to provide a safe way to climb out of the trench, failing to protect against cave-ins and failing to keep materials and equipment at least 2 feet from the edge.
The employer a
The longtime police chief of Lexington sued his employer over a dispute about workers' compensation. But instead of a resolution, the city suspended him.
Chief Agustin Hendershot claimed that he was injured at work in September 2024 by a telephone line that snapped, causing physical and psychological injuries, WHNT News 19 reports. He said he was temporarily totally disabled and also had “permanent partial and/or permanent total disability."
Hendershot said he was forced into examination and treatment, leading to a pile of medical bills,
A divided Kentucky Supreme Court reinstated an administrative law judge’s award for a coal mine worker’s cumulative trauma injuries.
Nathan O’Bannon worked in the coal industry for 10 years. For the last four years of this employment, O’Bannon worked for Muhlenberg County Coal Co.
His duties varied over the years but always involved heavy physical labor and repetitive work.
O’Bannon filed his workers’ compensation claim in June 2024, a few days before his 33rd birthday.
He supported his claim with the opinion of Dr. John W. Gilbert, who had diagnose
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld a trial judge’s decision to vacate a finding that the termination of an injured worker was for pretextual reasons.
Case: Menard Inc. v. Floriana, No. 2025AP1248, 10/20/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Michael Floriana Sr. injured his back while working for Menard Inc. as a forklift driver. After he returned to work with temporary restrictions, Floriana received a written warning for failing to use his forklift seat belt.
One week later, Floriana was disciplined for throwing a landscape rock. He later described the object as “a little pebb
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker who fell from a scaffold was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim.
Case: Latazela v. Compass Six Owner LLC, No. 806204/22, 10/15/2026, published.
Facts: Oscar Naula Latazela fell from a 6-foot-high scaffold platform at a construction site.
He said the scaffold moved, and he lost his balance, causing him to fall 11 to 12 feet to a concrete floor below.
Latazela testified that there were no designated anchor points where he could tie off his harness. Consequently, his fall was not restrained.
Procedural history: Latazel
A New York appellate court upheld an award of benefits to a worker for his injuries from a fall that left him unconscious and wedged between two buildings.
Case: Matter of Rendon v. Cosan Construction Corp., No. CV-25-0352, 10/15/2026, published.
Facts: Jose Rendon was working as a laborer for a construction project in June 2023 when he was found wedged in a narrow gap between two buildings at the site.
According to Rendon, he fell three stories through the gap after a suspended scaffold he was using shifted. Rendon claimed he landed on insulation at ground level and "rebounded" b
A New York appellate court upheld the dismissal of a worker’s claims against two entities he belatedly sought to add to his suit as defendants.
Case: Gonzalez v. Country Manor Apartments, No. 805017/22, 10/15/2026, published.
Facts: Luis Gonzalez allegedly suffered injuries while working at a property owned by Country Manor DNB LLC and Country Manor River LLC in November 2020.
Procedural history: Gonzalez filed suit against multiple defendants, seeking damages for his alleged injuries. He amended his complaint to add the Country Manor parties as defendants in September 2024. He also f
A former New York City corrections officer was sentenced to two years of probation for making a false statement in connection with his workers’ compensation claim.
Jovanny Concepcion, 34, will spend the first eight months of his probation on home detention, and he will perform 300 hours of community service, according to a statement from the New Your State Inspector General's office.
Concepcion must also make restitution of $232,427.
Concepcion began working for the city Department of Corrections in 2017 and had an annual salary of $60,355. He worked at Rikers Islan
A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Texas indicted an osteopath and a retired U.S. Postal Service employee for allegedly submitting $19 million in fraudulent bills to the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, $17 million of which was paid.
The indictment alleges that Dr. Javaria Jabeen and Allendor Kenyon Brown billed for services that were "not eligible for reimbursement, not medically necessary, not performed and not provided." Among other things, the indictment alleges the scheme billed several hours of physical therapy that coincided with the time the claima
The California Division of Workers' Compensation on Friday proposed revised medical provider network rules that would add penalties for specified violations, strengthen requirements for documenting physician participation and give regulators additional grounds to suspend or revoke networks.
MPNs could face a new $1,000 administrative penalty each time a workers' compensation judge or the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board finds that authorization for treatment was unreasonably delayed because of a network error.
The division is also proposing a $500 penalty for failure to provid
A California appellate court ruled that an employer was not entitled to relief from its default judgment against him for failing to pay his workers’ compensation premiums.
Case: Creditors Adjustment Bureau Inc. v. Halajian, No. F090331, 10/20/2026, unpublished.
Facts and procedural history: The Creditors Adjustment Bureau Inc., as the assignee for the State Compensation Insurance Fund, filed a complaint in Fresno County Superior Court against Barry Halajian.
The complaint alleged that Halajian did business as Industrial Electrical and that he owed SCIF $86,858.26 for four workers&rsqu