TX - High Court: Negligence Claim Against Nonsubscriber Not an Action to Collect Benefits
04/29/2025 | 0
The Texas Supreme Court said a negligence claim against a nonsubscribing employer is an action to recover damages that is distinct from an action to collect benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
As such, the high court held that a trial court abused its discretion by striking a nonsubscribing employer’s motion for leave to designate responsible third parties in a negligence claim brought by an injured worker.
“Considering the distinctions the act draws between no-fault statutory claims to collect workers’ compensation benefits against subscribers and fault-bas...
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The North Dakota Supreme Court upheld a determination that an injured worker was not entitled to continued workers’ compensation benefits.
Case: Lowe v. Workforce Safety and Insurance, No. 20250014, 04/24/2025, published.
Facts and procedural history: James Lowe suffered a back injury in November 2014 and began collecting workers’ compensation benefits.
North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance eventually terminated Lowe’s benefits.
An administrative law judge considered three medical opinions regarding the injury before affirming WSI’s determination that Low...
A New York appellate court upheld a grant of summary judgment to a property owner dismissing a worker’s Labor Law claims against her.
Case: Lupo v. Caruso, No. 2023-00102, 04/16/2025, published.
Facts: Michael Lupo allegedly suffered injuries while performing renovation work at a single-family home owned by Maria Caruso.
Lupo claimed he was hurt when he fell from a ladder he had borrowed from her.
Procedural history: Lupo filed suit against Caruso, asserting claims for negligence and for a violation of Labor Law Section 200.
Section 200 is a codification of the common-law duty ...
A divided Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Employers’ Liability Act did not provide coverage for emotional injuries allegedly inflicted on a worker by a supervisor’s repeated acts of harassment that eventually drove the worker to commit suicide.
Case: Estate of Morgan v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., No. 23–1154, 04/25/2025, published.
Facts: Phillip Morgan began working for Union Pacific Railroad Co. in 1998.
According to Morgan’s widow, he complained about issues with his supervisor, Michael Tomka, in the months before his death.
Dr. Lynn Charrlin diag...
With profound sadness, the Law Offices of David J. Shepard announces the death of David J. Shepard after a very short-term illness at the age of 74. He was the sole practitioner of a workers’ compensation practice that was founded in 1986.
Shepard was admitted to the California State Bar in 1978 after getting his juris doctorate from the University of Sa...
Across the U.S., lawmakers are reconsidering their approach to mental health coverage under their workers’ compensation systems, particularly for first responders.
Bills in the Connecticut, Wisconsin, Montana, Kentucky and Oklahoma legislatures aim to expand workers’ ability to file work-related mental health claims, and providers should be ready.
If these state measures pass, they will likely drive more injured workers into treatment, increasing the demand for providers who are eligible to deliver mental health services to injured...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a determination that a worker with an array of conditions causing permanent partial disability was not eligible for a permanent total disability finding.
Case: Martin v. Eastern Associated Coal LLC, No. 24-478, 04/22/2025, published.
Facts: James F. Martin injured his back and broke his leg while working for Eastern Associated Coal LLC in December 1996.
Dr. Prasadarao Mukkamala examined Martin in June 1997. He assigned Martin an 8% impairment rating.
A claims administrator for Eastern’s insurance carrier granted Martin an 8% permanent partial di...
The Texas Senate unanimously passed a bill to reclassify as “surcharges” some of the taxes insurance carriers currently pay to address the problem of retaliatory taxes levied in other states.
The Senate on Thursday voted 31-0 to pass SB 1455, by Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R-Denton. The bill, among other things, would amend the statute authorizing a workers’ compensation “maintenance tax” and reclassify the assessment levied on carriers and self-insured employers as a "surcharge" to finance the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
An analysis of the...
NATL. - WCRI Notes Rising Comp Claim Costs in Most of the Country
Indemnity benefits and medical costs per workers' compensation claim grew in most states since 2021, according to reports released Monday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
Examining cost trends across 18 states since 2018, representing more than 60% of claims costs nationwide, the median increase in overall costs per claim stood at 2.9%, with the highest increases in Arkansas, New Jersey, Kentucky, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
While the pandemic saw modest fluctuations in costs, post-pandemic data showed notable increases in indemnity costs, in particular. The mean increase ...
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill revising the schedule used to calculate total disability benefits for unmarried workers with children.
Ferguson on Friday signed House Bill 1788, by Rep Adison Richards, D-Gig Harbor, which generally increases total disability benefits by 3% for unmarried workers with at least one child.
Under current law, an injured worker who is unmarried and has no children is entitled to total disability benefits equal to 60% of wages. Available benefits increase by two percentage points for each additional child to a maximum of 70% for a married worker with fiv...
Lawmakers in Washington sent the governor a bill that would expand the duty of good faith and fair dealing to all self-insured employers operating in the state.
The Senate on April 22 voted 28-20 to concur in amendments made to SB 5463, by Sen. Emily Alvarado, D-West Seattle, while the bill was in the state House of Representatives.
One amendment removed a proposal to require the Department of Labor and Industries to decertify a self-insured employer that violates the duty of good faith and fair dealing three times within a three-year period. The amended bill instead would require L&...
A California appellate court resurrected a former Los Angeles police officer’s Fair Employment and Housing Act claim, finding that the trial court went too far in granting the city’s anti-SLAPP motion and in dismissing claims arising from both protected and unprotected activities.
James Cairns sued Los Angeles for alleged violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act arising from an investigation into his workers’ compensation claim. The work comp investigation spurred a secondary investigation into his on-duty judgment that led the department to initiate proceeding...
The Supreme Court of Maryland held that an attorney representing an injured worker is entitled to a percentage of the amount awarded by the Workers’ Compensation Commission after application of a statutory offset for his service-connected disability retirement benefits.
Case: Zukowski v. Anne Arundel County, No. 14, 04/24/2025, published.
Facts: Mark Zukowski and Joshua Ruggiero worked for the Anne Arundel County Police Department, and both suffered injuries in the line of duty. They received workers’ compensation benefits and accidental disability retirement benefits.
Under Mar...
The Alaska Supreme Court upheld the denial of a restaurant server’s discovery and evidentiary motions, as well as her claim for benefits.
Case: Fletcher v. Pike's on the River Inc., No. S-18861, 04/23/2025, unpublished.
Facts: Jennifer Fletcher worked as a server at Pike’s Landing. While at work in July 2014, Fletcher slipped and fell two steps onto a concrete floor.
Pike’s filed a report of injury with the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board and paid Fletcher a small amount of temporary disability.
Pike’s stopped disability payments on Aug. 9, 2014, after ...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was not entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim because of differing versions of the alleged accident presented by him and a witness.
Case: Villalta v. Tonka Realty on 5th LLC, No. 2024-01856, 04/16/2025, published.
Facts: Jose Villalta allegedly suffered injuries while working on a demolition project at a property owned by Tonka Realty on 5th LLC.
According to Villalta, he had been instructed to use a rubber-footed metal ladder on plywood flooring to go from the first floor to the second floor of the worksite. As he ...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the denial of benefits to a worker’s widow, finding that his death was not related to his occupational pneumoconiosis.
Case: Mullins v. Maple Meadow Mining Co., No. 24-479, 04/22/2025, published.
Facts: Everette D. Mullins worked for Maple Meadow Mining Co. Throughout his life, he suffered from a host of medical issues, including an acute inferior wall myocardial infarction, arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, unstable angina pectoris, hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia a...
A woman who pleaded no contest to insurance fraud and tax evasion will serve time behind bars and pay more than $1.4 million in restitution, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.
Martha Toro, owner of MT Janitorial Services, will serve 270 days in county jail and two years of formal probation, plus restitution and fines of $1,454,130.
A state audit determined that between 2013 and 2020, Toro underreported her payroll and lowered her workers' compensation insurance premiums through the scheme, resulting in Markel Insurance, her compan...
