MA - Worker's Unreasonable Conduct Delaying Case Results in Dismissal of Claim
12/08/2025 | 0
The Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld the dismissal of a worker’s claim based on her unreasonable conduct delaying the adjudication of her case.
Margarita Metaxas worked at Wheelhouse Bike Co. LLC for five days. Neither she nor any other employee reported or documented that Metaxas had fallen on June 1, 2019, her final full day of work.
Metaxas went to an urgent care clinic on June 2, 2019, complaining of low-back pain and urinary frequency. She did not report that she had fallen at work or elsewhere.
On June 22, 2019, Metaxas returned to the urgent care clinic for complaints that di...
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The Delaware Supreme Court upheld a determination that an injured firefighter was not entitled to any recovery for a worsening back injury because it was a recurrence of a prior injury for which he had executed a release and settlement.
Case: Ferrell v. City of Wilmington, No. 152, 12/04/2025, published.
Facts and procedural history: Corey Ferrell injured his back in 2015 while working for the Belvedere Fire Co. He filed a workers’ compensation claim, and in 2018, he accepted a commutation of the claim with Belvedere’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier. The commu...
A New York appellate court ruled that a Workers’ Compensation Board’s decision denying a worker’s claim for an occupational disease was not supported by substantial evidence.
Case: Matter of McGann v. Suffolk County Water Authority, No. CV-24-1249, 11/20/2025, published.
Facts: Frank McGann worked for the Suffolk County Water Authority for 32 years. After retiring in May 2021, McGann sought medical treatment for bilateral tingling and pain in his hands and wrists, reporting that the condition had progressed over the last two years of his employment.
McGann was diagnos...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the denial of a worker’s request to expand the scope of her claim for a left wrist injury.
Case: Sayre v. Toyota Motor Manufacturing WV Inc., No. 25-506, 11/25/2025, published.
Facts: Tedra Sayre worked for Toyota Motor Manufacturing WV Inc. She filed a workers’ compensation claim, asserting that she had injured her wrist at work in February 2023.
A claims adjuster for Toyota’s insurance carrier accepted liability for a left wrist strain.
In March 2023, a nurse practitioner diagnosed Sayre with left carpal tunnel syndrome and recomme...
Settlement season is here, and for many in the work comp game, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Every December, attorneys rush to and from their local Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board offices to make settlements happen before the end of the year. Most seasoned practitioners would agree that more settlements seem to happen in November and December.
Parties on both sides of the aisle tend to soften their positions after a long Thanksgiving weekend without court, and reach settlements. This is driven by a few factors:
Applicants see the holidays and perhaps a...
California's largest workers' compensation carrier said some of the changes that the Division of Workers' Compensation is proposing to its disability accommodation rules could create ambiguity that would make them harder to enforce.
The division in November opened an informal comment period on rules that would create a new form to file disability discrimination complaints and clarify that someone should be available to attend in-person proceedings when a request for a remote appearance is not submitted at least five days in advance.
Part of the proposal would substitute the word ...
The New Jersey Assembly Labor Committee passed a resolution that would designate April 18 as Worker Safety Day.
Assembly Joint Resolution 126 says there are more than 2.9 million deaths every year from unsafe working conditions, and 395 million nonfatal occupational injuries. In New Jersey, there were about 81 fatal work injuries in 2023 and thousands of other nonfatal injuries, according to the resolution by Assembly Majority Whip Carol A. Murphy, D-Mount Laurel.
The Assembly Labor Committee voted 9-1 to advance the resolution on Thursday.
Employers and employees both benefit from safe wor...
The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the denial of temporary total disability benefits to a worker who failed to show up for a light-duty position that his doctor said was within his capabilities.
Evangelo Papageorgiou worked for Avalotis Corp. He injured his neck at work in May 2018 and underwent surgery on the day of the injury.
On June 5, 2018, Dr. Jason Young advised Papageorgiou that he could return to light-duty work with no heavy lifting.
On June 28, 2018, an Avalotis project manager offered Papageorgiou light-duty work and advised him to report to a jobsite the following day.
Dr. John L. ...
A Southern California deputy’s request for service-connected disability retirement for on-the-job back injuries was denied after he repeatedly refused recommended medical treatments.
Ventura County Deputy Sheriff Alberto Mendoza injured his back in 2014 and 2015 while working at the Todd Road Jail.
Diagnostic imaging showed degenerative disc disease and a disc herniation with material impinging on a nerve root.
In the second half of 2015, a panel-qualified medical evaluator, an orthopedic surgeon and Mendoza's treating physician advised that surgery would be the most e...
San Diego, California - 11/14/2025 - Dietz, Gilmor & Chazen, APC, a California statewide law firm practicing exclusively in workers' compensation defense, subrogation, asbestos, Labor Code §132a, and serious and willful misconduct claims, promotes Peter M. Golden, Esq. to Partner.
Mr. Golden is a Partner based out of the San Diego office of Die...
A New York appellate court upheld a finding that a worker engaged in a diligent and persistent job search within his restrictions to maintain an attachment to the labor market.
Case: Matter of Quinzo v. Millenium Services LLC, No. CV-24-1161, 11/20/2025, published.
Facts: Segundo Quinzo worked for Millenium Services LLC. He suffered injuries to his neck and shoulder at work in March 2020.
Procedural history: A workers’ compensation law judge awarded Quinzo temporary partial disability benefits from April 2022 to October 2022.
In December 2022, Millenium filed a request for Quinz...
The New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division upheld the summary dismissal of an injured worker’s intentional conduct claim against his employer.
Case: Little v. VDM Metals USA LLC, No. A-0561-24, 11/25/2025, unpublished.
Facts: VDM Metals USA LLC is a steel manufacturer. It owns and operates a steel mill where Jonathan Little worked as a material handler.
On April 20, 2020, Little’s supervisor asked him to help unload a trailer because the COVID-19 pandemic had left the mill short-staffed.
After the steel had been removed from the trailer, Little helped clear p...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the denial of a worker’s request to expand his claim.
Case: Kirk v. West Virginia Paving Inc., No. 24-786, 11/25/2025, published.
Facts: James Kirk worked for West Virginia Paving Inc.
Before suffering a compensable injury in August 2022, Kirk received treatment for back pain, left hip pain, left leg pain and sciatica several times from September 2019 through July 2020.
Kirk then sustained an injury to his lower back and stomach while pulling himself onto a safety rack at work.
A claims administrator for WVP’s insurance carrier accep...
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia proposed using the state's workers' compensation to penalize undocumented workers and the businesses that employ them.
On Wednesday, Ingoglia said he is proposing legislation that would eliminate workers' compensation coverage for undocumented workers.
Florida law currently defines an employee as someone who receives remuneration for work, "whether lawfully or unlawfully employed."
Ingoglia said eliminating work comp coverage for undocumented workers would force companies that hire them to pay out of pocket for any wo...
The Actuarial Committee for the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California is meeting on Tuesday, and the Governing Committee is meeting Wednesday.
Members of the Actuarial Committee will review insurer experience through Sept. 30 as well as studies of medical utilization trends and how climate change affects frequency, severity and specific injuries or illnesses. Committee members will also discuss actuarial and research projects, as well as a schedule of meetings for the coming year.
The Governing Committee will review the proposed actuarial and research projects for 2...
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that the window for businesses to contest citations for workplace safety violations will be tolled for the days that the government was shuttered.
Employers have 15 working days to challenge an Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation.
The department said shutdown days do not count as working days, extending the time for employers to respond to citations issued immediately before or during the shutdown.
The department also announced that it didn't process complaints submitted to OSHA during the shutdown.
"The agency is now ...
A California appeals court on Wednesday held that the Privette doctrine extends to a homeowner whose insurance company hired an independent contractor who was injured while inspecting a house for potential hazards.
Although Kathleen Wagner didn't directly hire Robert Andrews, the presumption that a person hiring an independent contractor has delegated control over all aspects of the work, including workplace safety, nonetheless applies because her insurer had effectively hired the inspector on her behalf, the 6th District Court of Appeal said.
"By paying her insurance carrier for in...
