CA - Worker Loses $12.6 Million Jury Verdict Due to Privette Doctrine
09/22/2023 | 0
A California appellate court overturned a jury’s $12.6 million verdict for an injured worker, finding the defendants’ liability was barred by the Privette doctrine.
MAS Realty LLC owns a shopping center called Arlington Plaza, made up of one large building and three smaller buildings.
In 2014, MAS hired defendant Athena Property Management Inc. to manage Arlington Plaza. Athena then hired The Roof Depot Inc. to inspect Arlington Plaza’s roofs and make any necessary repairs.
Roof Depot advised Athena of two issues with one of the smaller buildings, specifically, that...
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The Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled that a caregiver was not entitled to additional treatment or benefits for her injured hip.
Case: Gant v. First Step Inc., No. CV-22-570, 09/20/2023, published.
Facts: Kymira Gant worked for First Step Inc. as a caregiver. She injured her back in April 2020 while attempting to load a patient’s wheelchair into her car.
She initially saw her family physician, Dr. Jenny Navarro, after the accident. Navarro noted that Gant complained of right hip pain. Gant also complained of unabated hip pain to Dr. Wayne Bruffett.
Bruffett ordered a magnetic reso...
The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a worker failed to prove his torn rotator cuff had been caused by an on-the-job injury.
Case: Clagg v. Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood LLC, No. 21-0744, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Bathan Cladd worked as a material expeditor for Constellium Rolled Products LLC. He allegedly felt a sharp, stabbing pain in the top of his shoulder while throwing a pan of debris at work in June 2019.
Clagg sought treatment at Activate Healthcare. An X-ray of his left shoulder revealed moderate left glenohumeral and acromioclavicular joint arthritis. Clagg was ...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a denial of benefits for a heavy equipment operator’s carpal tunnel claim.
Case: Trent v. Coronado Group LLC, No. 21-1047, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Billy Trent worked for Coronado Group LLC as a heavy equipment operator. Neurological testing performed on Nov. 14, 2019, showed Trent had right carpal tunnel syndrome with no evidence of radiculopathy.
Physician assistant Chris Tipton diagnosed Trent with a repetitive right wrist strain injury due to his work.
Dr. Rebecca Thaxton performed a physician review in January 2020 and opined that the ...
I recently attended a Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau webinar that covered the class code changes for 2022, 2023 and 2024.
As promised in an earlier article, whenever the WCIRB telecommuter class code 8871 was covered, I would write an update.
The webinar had three great presenters with outstanding graphics, as usual, from the WCIRB.
If you have many restaurant-based clients or you are a restaurant owner or risk manager, the webinar covered the upcoming massive changes to many of the restaurant class codes, effective September 2024. The slide deck ...
Injured workers are getting caught up in the federal government’s efforts to claw back billions of dollars in Social Security overpayments, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s KFF Health News and Cox Media Group.
The Social Security Administration in the fiscal year that ended in June 2022 collected about $4.7 billion in overpayments, according to the report. Another $22 billion was outstanding.
One woman who was receiving workers’ compensation benefits and Social Security disability benefits said she received a letter from the Social Security Administra...
The president of the Association of Washington Business said in a statement that the organization was “disappointed” with the Department of Labor and Industries proposal to increase workers’ compensation rates next year.
L&I on Tuesday proposed increasing the average hourly rate employers and workers pay for comp coverage by 4.9%. The department said the rate increase is needed in part because of higher-than-normal wage growth in the state in recent years.
The agency said it tapped into its reserves to mitigate the rate hike. L&I said it would have needed ...
The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Division of Workers’ Compensation are partnering to present a four-part training course for medical-legal report writing.
The program aims to teach qualified medical evaluators, clinicians and others involved in the work comp system about the intricacies of medical-legal report writing and what constitutes compelling evidence in legal proceedings.
The first course on Oct. 6 will cover the statutory and regulatory requirements governing medical-legal reports. Instruction will cover th...
Zurich North America appointed Japhet Boutin to serve as senior vice president and head of technical claims.
She succeeds John Shane, who accepted a position with the Zurich Group as global head of casualty claims.
Boutin will manage the technical aspects of claims with Zurich and report to Keith Daly, the insurer’s chief claims officer.
Boutin began her career in commercial litigation in New York City. In 2004, she joined American International Group and ultimately became the director of the professional associate program.
In 2009, she joined Zurich North America as senior cover...
The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that independent contractors are not afforded immunity from tort liability under the workers’ compensation law as statutory employers, unlike contractors and subcontractors.
Mitchell Smith worked for Amalgamated Sugar Co. In 2017, Amalgamated hired Excel Fabrication LLC to build a series of steel mezzanines and handrails at its facility.
While the project was still ongoing, one of the handrails fabricated by Excel gave way while Smith was on a flight of stairs, causing him to fall and suffer injuries.
Smith received workers' compensation b...
The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld a jury’s award of damages against a general contractor in a subrogation action by an insurance carrier to recover what it had paid in benefits to an injured worker.
Case: Acuity v. Kraus-Anderson Construction Co., No. A23-0318, 09/18/2023, unpublished.
Facts: Winona State University hired Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. as a general contractor for a building and renovation project on its campus. The university also hired Borton Construction Inc. to build a food court on the second floor of Wabasha Hall.
Kraus-Anderson performed demolitio...
The West Virginia Supreme Court unanimously upheld a 5% permanent partial disability award to a coal company employee for his back injury.
Case: Kennedy v. Mission Coal Co., No. 21-0930, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Preston Kennedy worked for Mission Coal Co. He injured his back in January 2018 while lifting a bottle of oxygen. Kennedy filed a workers’ compensation claim, which was held compensable for low-back sprain/strain.
Dr. Joseph Grady II examined Kennedy in October 2019. He noted that Kennedy’s medical records indicated he had prior back issues, even though Kennedy deni...
The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a worker failed to prove his entitlement to a higher permanent partial disability award for his injuries from a fall.
Case: Cook v. Arch Coal Inc., No. 21-0928, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Wesley Cook worked for Arch Coal Inc. as an electrician, He suffered injuries in a fall at work in August 2018.
Cook’s broken left leg was placed in a cast, and Dr. Stanley Tao performed surgery on the right knee. Tao separately performed surgery on Cook’s right shoulder as well.
Dr. Joseph Grady saw Cook in June 2019. He opined that Cook was at ma...
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined a pipe manufacturer $245,546 for violations uncovered during the investigation of a March 2023 workplace death.
A 19-year-old employee of Foley Products Co. was using a hammer and chisel to remove hardened concrete from a mixer at a manufacturing facility in Cantonment, Florida. He was killed when the concrete mixer was restarted while he was still inside.
OSHA said the fatality could have been prevented and cited the company for violations that include willfully exposing workers to crush and confined-space hazards. Additional...
Origami Risk on Wednesday announced the appointment of Chris Bennett as chief strategy officer of core solutions.
At the same time, the insurance software as a service firm announced that Mike Kaplan is joining the company as president of the core solutions division.
Bennett served as president of the core solutions division when it was created in 2019. His appointment to chief strategy officer will see the expansion of his role guiding the division’s growth and development, Origami said.
Kaplan brings 30 years of experience in operations and professional service, including ...
The National Council on Compensation Insurance is recommending that Colorado regulators reduce advisory loss costs for the voluntary market by 3.4%, effective Jan. 1.
“The proposed change in average voluntary loss costs consists of a 4.3% decrease due to experience and development, no change due to trend, a 0.4% increase due to benefits and a 0.5% increase due to change in loss-based expenses,” according to an actuarial analysis of the NCCI rate filing.
The recommendation is based on premium and loss experience for policy years 2019-2021 and excludes claims resulting from COVID-1...
