NY - Elderly, Cancer-Stricken Worker Gets Hardship Reclassification
05/23/2025 | 0
A New York appellate court upheld a determination that an elderly worker with cancer demonstrated extreme hardship that warranted reclassification.
Linda Epstein worked as a meat wrapper at Waldbaums for 44 years. She suffered an on-the-job injury in 2011.
In 2014, Epstein was classified with a permanent partial disability and found to have sustained an 81% loss of wage-earning capacity.
Before the exhaustion of her indemnity benefits, Epstein submitted an extreme hardship redetermination request.
Under New York law, if a partially disabled worker has a loss of wage-earning capac...
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The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an Amazon employee was entitled only to temporary partial disability benefits after an injury because he remained able to work.
Case: Amazon.com Services LLC v. Carlson, No. 381 C.D. 2024, 05/07/2025, unpublished.
Facts: Timothy Carlson worked for Amazon.com Services LLC as a fulfillment center associate. He injured his neck at work in April 2022.
Carlson received restrictions on his work activities, and Amazon told him that the restrictions could be accommodated only in a night-shift position. When Carlson responded that he was unable ...
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a grant of summary judgment dismissing the negligence claim by a worker who fell into a vat of molten lead against the company that had hired his employer to perform maintenance work.
Case: Johnson v. Exide Technologies Inc., No. 23-3528, 05/08/2025, published.
Facts: Trenton Johnson worked for Concorp Inc., which had an oral agreement with Exide Technologies Inc. to perform maintenance work at an Exide facility in Kansas City, Missouri.
Johnson went to the Exide facility to replace a belt inside a conveyor that Concorp had installed months earli...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding that a deputy sheriff’s cervical stenosis was unrelated to his work injury.
Case: Price v. Raleigh County Commission, No. 24-ICA-411, 04/29/2025, published.
Facts: Matthew Price worked for Raleigh County as a deputy sheriff. He injured his left shoulder at work while trying to force open a door in March 2023.
On the day of his injury, Price saw a nurse practitioner who noted that Price had pain in his shoulder, upper arm, neck and down to the left upper part of his back.
An X-ray of the left shou...
A recent article in WorkCompCentral, titled “Comp Is a Cash Cow, but Insurers Want Higher Rates,” suggests that California's workers' compensation system is thriving and that insurers are unjustly seeking rate increases.
However, a closer examination reveals a more complex and concerning picture. California's workers' compensation costs are significantly higher than the national average, driven by systemic inefficiencies and escalating administrative expenses.
Diverging combined ratios: California vs. national trends
Nationally, the workers' compensation ...
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments in a case that seeks to clarify the appropriate standards for the aggravation of preexisting conditions.
The high court will hear oral arguments in Jo Carol Edwards v. Peoplease, a direct appeal of a workers’ compensation case stemming from a 2020 injury.
Edwards suffered injuries to both her knees in a vehicle accident while working for Peoplease. The employer accepted the claim and authorized medical treatment.
Edwards consulted four orthopedic surgeons for pain and loss of function in both knees, and all agreed that she su...
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that a commercial bakery in New Jersey agreed to pay $180,000 in penalties to resolve litigation over failure to abate hazards cited during an inspection.
OSHA said it investigated Valenti’s Bakery in Paterson in June 2023 after an employee partially amputated a finger. The agency said its inspectors returned in 2024 for a follow-up inspection and found that hazards had not been abated.
It’s not clear from the statement whether any citations were issued after the first visit. OSHA did not describe the nature of t...
The Workers Compensation Research Institute reports that total costs per claim in Minnesota increased about 10% annually from 2021 to 2023.
WCRI said rising wages, longer duration of temporary disability and increased medical payments per claim were the main drivers of the recent cost growth following stability during the first two years of the pandemic.
“Minnesota is not alone in seeing growth in overall costs per claim from 2021 to 2023,” said Sebastian Negrusa, vice president of research at WCRI. “Nearly all study states experienced cost growth since 2021, after cost dec...
Oklahoma lawmakers sent the governor a bill that would increase the cap on permanent partial disability benefits by a little more than 4% and allow general contractors to provide comp coverage to subcontractors.
Senate Bill 642 would increase the maximum PPD benefit to $375 from $360 on July 1.
The bill would also allow a general contractor to enter a written agreement to provide workers’ compensation coverage to a subcontractor and its employees. If a subcontractor does not have employees, the subcontractor itself would be treated as an employee of the contractor under the state&rsquo...
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...
A California appeals court overturned a Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board decision and held that a nonprofit health care organization that works with several Indian tribes is entitled to sovereign immunity.
Although there was no evidence that the tribes working with United Indian Health Services Inc. intended to share their immunity with the nonprofit, the California 1st District Court of Appeal said policy considerations require it to bestow immunity upon the firm.
“Ultimately, because United Indian’s existence, purpose and operations are central to tribal self-governanc...
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed a budget bill that includes a last-minute addition that supporters say addresses a problematic state Supreme Court decision that threatened to increase work comp costs.
The governor on Tuesday signed HB 6863, which includes language adding a limitation on the discretion of administrative law judges to award specific types of benefits.
The high court, in Gardner v. Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services et al., held that Section 31-308(b) provides that a judge “may” award permanent partial disability benefits to a worker who has reach...
The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld a jury’s award of $2.8 million in a co-worker gross negligence action arising from the death of a surface mine employee.
Case: Griffith v. Kulper, No. 24-0097, 05/07/2025, published.
Facts: Michael Griffith worked for Wendling Quarries Inc. in quality control. He began training for a stockpile driver position.
Stockpile drivers drive dump trucks under lime surge hoppers — machines that load trucks with crushed rock or lime from a quarry. Material sometimes builds up inside the hopper, so stockpile drivers might have to lean over the hopper and sc...
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of a worker’s claim for benefits for a heart attack.
Case: Matter of Stabile v. Catholic Health System of Long Island Inc., No. CV-23-1971, 05/02/2025, published.
Facts: Anthony Stabile worked for Catholic Health System of Long Island Inc. as a nurse. On March 28, 2022, Stabile left work and approached his vehicle in the parking lot before experiencing an unwitnessed medical event. He was found unresponsive and taken back to the hospital for treatment for his injuries, which included cardiac arrest.
Procedural history: Stabile fil...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a denial of authorization for a worker’s knee surgery, but it said his shoulder surgery, diagnostic testing and pain management referral should have been approved.
Case: Marquez v. Tracardebre LLC, No. 24-ICA-303, 04/29/2025, published.
Facts: Fernando Marquez worked for Tracardebre LLC. He filed a report of injury in July 2022, indicating he had fallen at work. Marquez said he injured his right elbow, shoulder and hip.
A nurse practitioner signed the report, indicating that Marquez had injured multiple body parts at work. The...
A Louisiana appellate court upheld a determination that a firefighter’s death was presumptively linked to his employment, but the fire department reasonably contested the compensability of his demise.
Case: Magee v. City of New Orleans Fire Department, No. 2024-CA-0747, 05/07/2025, published.
Facts: Troy Magee worked as a firefighter for the City of New Orleans for more than 13 years. In October 2014, he went to New Mexico to attend training on hazardous materials.
On the final day of training, Magee became extremely ill and had to be transported by ambulance to the hospital. His...
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of three indictments charging one current correctional officer and two former officers at Rikers Island with fraud.
Federal prosecutors said Todd Faustin, 43, Jovanny Concepcion, 33, and Steven Murphy, 31, were arrested Monday on charges including health care fraud, mail fraud and making false statements related to health care matters.
Faustin is currently employed by the New York City Department of Correction, while Concepcion and Murphy are former DOC workers. The indictment alleges that each def...