HI - Supreme Court Advises LIRAB to Develop PPD 'Formula'
09/17/2025 | 0
The Hawaii Supreme Court vacated an award and recommended that the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board weigh whether a lack of concrete factors to consider when awarding permanent partial disability benefits causes disparate outcomes.
While the board has discretion to determine the amount of an award, linking the decision to the evidence is necessary.
“We do not require agencies to state whether each and every piece of evidence helps or hurts a claimant or petitioner’s cause,” the court said. “But merely listing facts without basic analysis of their im...
Read More
Workers' compensation exclusivity bars a pharmacist's lawsuit that alleged intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery, a California appeals court ruled.
The 5th District Court of Appeal said workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy for injuries arising from alleged harassment that occurs in the normal course of business, such as a supervisor scrutinizing the work of a subordinate. The court also said the worker couldn't escape exclusivity because she failed to prove that an intent to cause physical injury motivated an alleged a...
The South Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that a staffing company employee’s injuries from a single-vehicle accident on a private road were compensable because he had been instructed to use the road to access his worksite.
Case: Cook v. Condustrial Inc., No. 2020-001236, 09/10/2025, unpublished.
Facts: Ryan Cook worked for Condustrial Inc., a specialized staffing company providing skilled labor for a variety of clients. Condustrial assigned Cook to work for Phillips Industrial, which had a contract for work at the British Petroleum plant.
According to Cook, at the end of each wor...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a denial of benefits for a deputy sheriff’s heart attack.
Case: Willis v. Fayette County Commission, No. 25-ICA-46, 08/29/2025, published.
Facts: William Willis worked for the Fayette County Commission as a deputy sheriff. He went to the hospital on Oct. 29, 2023, with complaints of chest pain.
A cardiac catheterization was performed, which revealed a 90% thrombotic lesion in the mid-right coronary artery.
Procedural history: Willis filed a workers’ compensation claim, asserting that he had suffered a heart attack while...
The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled that a worker was not entitled to benefits for her injuries from falling while using a crosswalk on a public street to move from a public parking lot to her workplace.
Case: Poole v. Quest Diagnostics Inc., No. 0701-24-3, 09/09/2025, published.
Facts: Audra Poole worked for Quest Diagnostics as a phlebotomist at the laboratory inside Carilion’s Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
While on her way to work on Feb. 2, 2022, Poole fell while traversing a crosswalk on a public street that separated the laboratory building from a public parking lot.
Procedur...
The U.S. Department of Labor fined a Florida roofing contractor $752,846 for allegedly exposing workers to fall hazards by not requiring them to wear fall protection.
The department said it initiated an investigation into Elo Restoration LLC, operating as Elo Roofing, after learning that a worker at a site in St. Johns was hospitalized after falling through a residential roof while removing skylight fixtures.
The agency said the worksite lacked guardrails, fall arrest systems or safety nets, and employees were not given alternative fall protection methods.
The department cited Elo for four ...
The California Workers' Compensation Institute reported that claims involving functional restoration programs were almost 60% more expensive than common claims, with average medical costs twice as high and indemnity costs 28% higher.
Functional restoration programs are a multi-disciplinary approach to treat chronic pain and improve patient function when injuries don't respond to traditional therapies.
CWCI said these claims averaged $234,003, about 59.3% more than the control group. Medical spending averaged $127,816, nearly twice the $64,062 for controls, while outpatient cost...
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries is proposing to increase the average hourly rate employers and workers pay for workers' compensation coverage by 4.9%.
The department is recommending an average rate of $1.37 per full-time employee.
The increase is less than what the department said it would need to cover 2026 claim costs, but it plans to use its contingency reserve to cover the difference.
"By maintaining a healthy contingency reserve through consistent, careful management of the premiums paid by workers and employers, L&I can cover some of the costs inst...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 26, 2025
LatinoComp to Honor Judge Daniel A. Dobrin, of the Los Angeles Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, at Annual Awards Dinner
Los Angeles, CA — LatinoComp is proud to announce that Judge Daniel A. Dobrin, a respected leader in the Workers’ Compensation community, will be honored at the upcom...
The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a widow’s claim for death benefits was timely and that an award was supported by competent evidence.
Michael Galimberti served as a volunteer firefighter with the Farmington and Middleton fire departments from 2002 until around 2008, when he began working full time.
In 2008, he also worked full time at Pease Tradeport in Portsmouth. The State of New Hampshire was his employer there.
Galimberti underwent a medical exam before he began working at Pease Tradeport and was found to be cancer-free.
In February 2019, Galimberti sough...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled that a worker was not entitled to additional temporary total disability benefits or to expand the scope of her claim, but she should not have been denied a cold compression therapy unit and shoulder wrap for her compensable injury.
Case: Gee v. ACNR Resources Inc., No. 25-ICA-92, 08/29/2025, published.
Facts: Katie Gee worked for ACNR Resources Inc. She went to the hospital on Jan. 26, 2024, and reported that a rock about the size of a football had fallen on her back while she was at work.
A computed tomography scan of the chest...
The Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel ruled that a worker’s failure to challenge both bases given by a judge for denying her motion to set aside a settlement was fatal to her appeal.
Case: Taylor v. John and Stephanie Ingram LLC, No. M2024-01348-SC-R3-WC, 09/11/2025, published.
Facts: Lauren Taylor suffered injuries when a horse kicked her in the head while she was working for John and Stephanie Ingram LLC.
Taylor initially received medical care in Georgia, where a probate court appointed her mother as her conservator and guardian.
T...
A New York appellate court ruled that a Labor Law defendant was entitled to partial summary judgment dismissing a claim against it, but it was not entitled to summary judgment on its indemnification claim against a co-defendant.
Case: Santiago v. Genting New York LLC, No. 157665/19 595448/20, 09/11/2025, published.
Facts: Edwin Santiago allegedly suffered injuries when he and his co-workers were using two dollies to move a crate of glass panels toward a hoist elevator on the ground floor of a building that was being constructed.
The entrance to the hoist elevator was not level to the g...
The South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission announced that Kristen McRee was appointed executive director, effective Nov. 1.
McRee joined the commission in March 2021 as a staff attorney. She was promoted to director of administrative services in August 2023.
Before joining the commission, McRee practiced workers' compensation law, representing both injured workers and employers and carriers.
She has served as a staff member in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and a legal staff member for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.
She earned her bac...
The Texas Division of Workers' Compensation said compliance and investigations audits in 2026 will focus on timeliness and accuracy of benefit payments, reimbursement for medical services and data reporting.
The review of benefit payments will focus on whether carriers accurately paid lifetime income and death benefits and accurately reported claims data to the division. The agency said it will draw sample data from claims for injuries that occurred between Sept. 1, 2018, and April 30, 2025, and compare that with wage statements, indemnity payment records and adjuster notes provided by ca...
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is hosting its annual Medical & Health Symposium from Wednesday through Friday.
The free virtual event will focus on navigating occupational health challenges, including neurological injuries, traumatic brain injuries and artificial intelligence in work comp claims.
The virtual event offers continuing education credits to more than 20 professions, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, attorneys, case managers and physical therapists.
For more information, or to register, click here.
...
