TX - Immunity Shields County Risk Pool From Widow's Death Benefit Claim
05/11/2026 | 0
A Texas appeals court shut down a widow's efforts to recover death benefits, finding that a county's risk management pool is a governmental entity shielded by sovereign immunity and that the attempt to challenge a denial through a declaratory judgment action was a jurisdictional dead end.
Neil Adams, a San Jacinto County deputy constable, worked off-hours as private security at a mall in Houston. He was wearing his constable uniform while working security at the mall on Feb. 23, 2022, when he was fatally shot during an interaction with a customer whose credit card was declined.
His w...
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A New York appellate court upheld a determination that an independent medical examiner’s report did not need to be precluded from evidence.
Case: Matter of Figueroa v. Sing Sing Correctional Facility, No. CV-25-0451, 04/16/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Karen Figueroa worked at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility. She was injured at work in September 2022 when her left arm was hit by a gate while she was attempting to close it.
Figueroa filed a workers’ compensation claim, and following a course of treatment, a permanency report indicated that she had sustai...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld the authorization for an occipital nerve stimulator to treat a worker’s head injury.
Case: Marshall County Coal Resources Inc. v. Shuler, No. 25-ICA-395, 04/07/2026, published.
Facts: Dan Shuler worked for Marshall County Coal Resources Inc. as a mine bolter. He filed a workers’ compensation claim for injuries he sustained in February 2023 when a rock fell from above and landed on his head.
A claims administrator for MCCR’s insurance carrier accepted liability for an unspecified injury to the head and strain o...
A Louisiana appellate court upheld an award of benefits and penalties to a worker for her injuries from a fall she sustained as she was arriving for work, but it vacated her award of attorney fees.
Case: Ralser v. Harrah’s New Orleans, No. 2025-CA-0767, 04/22/2026, published.
Facts: Terri Ralser worked for Harrah’s New Orleans Casino. On Feb. 22, 2024, as she was arriving for her overnight shift, Ralser tripped and fell over an extended arm of a forklift that was parked adjacent to the employee entrance to the casino.
Procedural history: The Office of Workers’ Compensation...
The California Assembly Appropriations Committee placed a hold on bills proposing to overhaul the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund and to allow injured workers to receive medical treatment during the workday.
The committee on Wednesday sent AB 1576 and AB 2098 to its suspense file, which serves as a sort of holding place for bills with projected costs of $50,000 to the general fund or at least $150,000 to other funds, such as the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund.
The proposed SIBTF reforms in AB 1576, by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-San Leandro, would require:
...
The California Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would permanently allow employers to pay indemnity benefits with prepaid debit cards.
The Assembly on Thursday voted 66-0 to pass AB 1683, with 14 members not casting a vote.
AB 1683 would indefinitely extend a pilot program, created in 2018, that allowed the use of debit cards to pay indemnity benefits. The bill would eliminate a Jan. 1, 2027, sunset date.
Under the program, employers or carriers have the option of using electronic payment cards with the written consent of the injured worker.
The Commission on Heal...
Colorado lawmakers are exploring new ways to allow Pinnacol Assurance to sell insurance in other states without severing ties with its home state, according to a report by Colorado Politics.
Though a ballot initiative and prior legislative proposals involved privatizing the carrier, the latest pitch would just restructure it as a different type of quasi-state agency that's not constrained to writing workers' compensation policies in Colorado.
Pinnacol would be treated as a mutual insurance company, according to Colorado Politics.
But the carrier would be classified as a s...
Inpatient hospitalization rates stabilized in 2024 after nearly a decade of steady declines, while spinal surgeries resumed a long-term downward trend after a brief interruption during the pandemic, the California Workers' Compensation Institute said in a report published Thursday.
Overall, workers' compensation represents a small share of hospital care, accounting for 10,322 of the 2.7 million inpatient discharges in 2024. Work comp inpatient stays fell about 50% over the last decade, dropping to 0.38% of statewide hospitalizations in 2024 from 0.82% in 2013.
Over the same per...
A Florida appellate court reinstated a worker’s petition for benefits, finding it was timely filed within one year of his last receipt of authorized medical treatment.
Case: Leighton v. Kratos Logistics LLC, No. 1D2024-2569, 05/06/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Brian Leighton worked as a delivery driver for Kratos Logistics. He suffered injuries at work on Feb. 9, 2022.
Leighton sought treatment from Dr. Monica Bartoli a few days later.
Kratos learned of the accident on Feb. 17, 2022. It authorized treatment and the payment of benefits.
Kratos made its last paym...
A New York appellate court upheld a grant of summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claims for his injuries from being struck by a section of ceiling that fell.
Case: Perez v. ZZZ Carpentry Inc., Nos. 2022-04316/2022-09898, 04/15/2026, published.
Facts: Osiel Perez allegedly suffered injuries while working on a construction project at a property owned by Angela Sun. ZZZ Carpentry Inc. served as the general contractor for the project.
ZZZ hired A.R. Equipment LLC as a demolition subcontractor. Perez worked for A.R. Equipment and claimed he was injured when a section of ceiling c...
A New York appellate court upheld the dismissal of a worker’s Labor Law claim due to his repeated failure to appear for a deposition.
Case: Bryant v. Boston Properties Inc., No. 2021-08747, 04/15/2026, published.
Facts: Wilbert Bryant allegedly suffered injuries while working on a construction project at a commercial property owned by Boston Properties Inc. Turner Construction Co. was the general contractor for the project.
Procedural history: Bryant filed suit against Boston and Turner in June 2018, asserting claims for violations of the Labor Law.
In March 2020, the defendants move...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding of compensability for a coal mine worker’s bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
Case: Blackhawk Mining LLC v. Albright, No. 25-ICA-315, 04/07/2026, published.
Facts: Larry Albright worked for Blackhawk Mining LLC as a coal mine roof bolter. The job required him to work with his hands continuously and on a daily basis.
In December 2002, Dr. Joby Joseph diagnosed Albright with mild bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Joseph’s report stated that Albright had no history of trauma, had experienced symptoms for appro...
The Colorado Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would expand presumptive coverage for firefighters with cancer and make it harder for employers to rebut the presumption that the conditions arose from employment.
The Senate on Thursday voted 22-13 to pass SB 184, which would add coverage for Parkinson's disease.
Additionally, the bill would replace the current organ-system-based list of covered cancers with an expanded, site-specific classification that includes malignant neoplasms affecting the oral cavity, respiratory system, digestive tract, lymphatic and hematologic systems, and a ...
South Carolina lawmakers voted to send the governor a bill that would add coverage for strokes to the law that presumes heart and respiratory diseases are compensable for firefighters.
The Senate on Wednesday passed H 3163, which would also expand the list of activities covered by the presumption.
Current law presumes that heart disease and respiratory disease that develop while fighting a fire or within 24 hours of fighting a fire are compensable.
H 3163 would presume that heart disease, respiratory disease and strokes are compensable if those conditions develop during or within 24 hours o...
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday held that a motor vehicle owner can be held vicariously liable for the negligence of a driver, even if the driver is personally immune from liability under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Workers’ compensation exclusivity provides immunity to the worker who caused the harm, but it doesn't release others from liability, the court explained in Rebecca A. Niebuhr v. Jacob Sieberg.
"Accordingly, the Workers’ Compensation Act does not bar an injured employee from pursuing a claim against a motor vehicle owner for vicarious liabilit...
