KY - Supreme Court Revives Suit Over Take-Home Asbestos Exposure
03/23/2026 | 0
A divided Kentucky Supreme Court revived a lawsuit against two defendants, finding they had a duty to protect against foreseeable harm posed by their employees' exposing household members to asbestos dust.
Union Carbide Corp. was the manufacturer of asbestos-containing molding compounds purchased and used by Square D Co. during the 1960s and 1970s.
Ken Baxter began working for Square D in the late 1960s, and he allegedly worked in or around the mold room.
Baxter and his wife adopted a daughter, Vickie Williams, in 1967. While Williams was growing up, Baxter allegedly would regularly com...
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A California appellate court upheld the summary dismissal of an injured worker’s civil claim against the contractor that hired his employer, finding the worker’s action failed due to the Privette doctrine.
The general contractor for a pedestrian bridge project in Menlo Park hired Ghilotti Construction Co. Inc. to provide “all labor, material, equipment, detailing and supervision” for the project.
Ghilotti subcontracted the rebar reinforcing work to Camblin Steel Service Inc.
On the day Camblin was set to start working on the project, Ghilotti workers were pumpin...
A New York appellate court ruled that a general contractor was entitled to partial summary judgment dismissing some of the claims against it in a Labor Law action, and that it was entitled to indemnification from a subcontractor who installed a defective ceiling.
Case: Fernandez v. Sub 412 Associates LLC, No. 161024/17, 595145/20, 595264/20, 02/24/2026, published.
Facts: Sub 412 Associates LLC owned a property that it leased to The Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., which hired Nucor Construction Corp. to renovate the space.
Nucor hired Manhattan Fine Cleaners Inc. to clean the worksite. Juan Fer...
A New York appellate court ruled that the owners and tenants of a property should have been granted partial summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claims for his injuries from being struck by a falling object.
Case: Butler v. Marco Realty Associates LP, No. 156776/17, 595506/18, 02/24/2026, published.
Facts: Larone Butler worked as a demolition laborer for Always First Inc. He suffered injuries while working at a property when a pipe fell from the ceiling above him.
Marco Realty Associates LP owned the building. Old Navy LLC and The Gap Inc. were its tenants.
James Hunt Constructio...
SACRAMENTO, CA - The Association of Workers' Compensation Professionals (AWCP) is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with WorkCompCentral, the leading online news and information resource dedicated to the workers' compensation...
New research illuminates a serious problem for injured workers: secondary psychological injuries resulting from the sheer hardship of navigating workers’ comp systems.
A report from Australia's Monash University examines the mental health impact of workers’ compensation systems that impose bureaucratic complexity. Drawing on injured worker surveys, stakeholder interviews and claims data, the report finds that workers facing delays in claim approval were roughly four times more likely to report a persistently negat...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld an award of benefits to a worker for a closed head injury resulting from a fall.
Case: Gracious Dining LLC v. Lopez, No. 25-ICA-336, 02/27/2026, published.
Facts: Miriam Lopez worked for Gracious Dining LLC. She went to the hospital on Nov. 11, 2023, with complaints of a head injury and pain in her right wrist and left ankle after tripping and falling at work.
Her medical history included a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, diabetes and spasticity.
A computed tomography scan of Lopez’s brain revealed no acute intracrani...
PA - Medical Supply Vendor Not a Provider Under Comp Law
A Pennsylvania appellate court ruled that a medical supply company is not a “health care provider” under the state’s workers' compensation law, affirming a denial of additional reimbursement for supplies provided to an injured worker.
In Scomed Supply v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania held that Scomed, a distributor of durable medical equipment, did not qualify for fee review protections available to providers under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
The dispute centered on supplies — including electrodes, batteries...
A California bill introduced Thursday would create a statewide certification system for fabrication shops working with engineered stone and other slab materials, tightening oversight of silica exposure risks.
Assembly Bill 2137 would require the Department of Industrial Relations, or Cal/OSHA, to develop an application and certification process for businesses engaged in “slab solid surface product fabrication activities.”
The measure targets fabrication work involving materials such as artificial stone, granite and marble, where cutting and grinding can generate respirable c...
The California Division of Workers' Compensation updated the physician and practitioner section of the Official Medical Fee Schedule to incorporate Medicare's second-quarter changes.
The division said updates to the Physician and Non-Physician Practitioner Fee Schedule adopt the latest Medicare National Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value file.
The order also adopts revised practitioner procedure-to-procedure edits and medically unlikely edits.
Fee schedule changes apply for services provided on or after April 1.
The order adopting the updates is here.
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A Florida appellate court ruled that the costs associated with a tetraplegic worker’s travel to visit family out of state did not qualify for coverage as medical benefits.
Larry Burgess worked for Purple Pride Inc. He suffered injuries in a work-related motor vehicle accident in 2019 that left him tetraplegic. Burgess now requires around-the-clock attendant care.
The insurance provider for Purple Pride accepted liability for Burgess’ injuries and has paid for attendant-care services in Atlanta, where Burgess now resides.
In 2024, Burgess filed a petition for benefits seekin...
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals overturned an award of permanent total disability benefits to an injured brick mason.
Case: BISCO Refractories Inc. v. Dean, No. CL-2025-0645, 02/27/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Wesley Dean worked for BISCO Refractories Inc. He has spent his entire career working as a brick mason.
In February 2019, Dean fell while working on an elevated platform. He was diagnosed with a left calcaneal fracture and a closed compression fracture of the L-1 lumbar vertebra.
Dean received treatment from Dr. Jerome Ambrosia. In May 2019, Ambrosia opined...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should not have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his alleged injuries from falling from a dumpster.
Case: Carreno v. Chelsea Leaf South Housing Development Fund Corp., No. 155542/17, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts: Joel Oswaldo Ruiz Carreno worked as a laborer on a construction project at a property co-owned by Chelsea Leaf South Housing Development Fund Corp. and Eighth and Seventh GP LLC.
Flatiron Construction Corp. was the manager for the project.
While working, Carreno climbed atop a dumpster to place a tarp over...
A New York appellate court overturned a grant of summary judgment that dismissed a worker’s Labor Law claims arising from a pallet jack accident.
Case: Torres v. 40 East End Ave. Associates LLC, No. 150872/20, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts: Wilson Minaya Torres allegedly suffered injuries as he was guiding a pallet of construction materials being delivered to a worksite.
According to Torres, his co-worker was moving the load using a pallet jack when the wooden part of the pallet broke, and the jack got stuck on the edge of the truck that had delivered the material. Although t...
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that an insurance carrier that covered an assigned risk employer was entitled to reimbursement from the Compensation Rating Bureau for its settlement of a claim against the employer, plus interest, fees and expenses from litigating its right to be repaid.
The Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau is a private, nonprofit association of all insurance companies licensed to provide workers’ compensation in the state. The bureau administers an assigned risk plan, which connects employers that could not obtain insurance through the voluntary market to a &ldqu...
A ballot initiative proposing to privatize Pinnacol Assurance is poised to go before Colorado voters.
The Colorado Title Board on Wednesday voted 2-1 to approve Initiative No. 249, according to a report by Colorado Politics, but opponents could still file an appeal.
If approved by voters, the initiative would separate the quasi-public Pinnacol from the state, effective July 1, 2027.
The bill would create a job training program — the Skilled Workers and Trades Fund — which would be funded by a one-time $150 million payment from Pinnacol, due June 30, 2027. All state premium taxes...
The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced a new initiative aimed at helping employers strengthen workplace safety programs through a structured, voluntary approach.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Safety Champions program is designed as a cooperative effort to guide employers in building and improving safety and health programs, with an emphasis on preventing workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
According to the agency, the program uses a tiered framework with three levels — introductory, intermediate and advanced — allowing employers to ...
