MN - Work Comp Is Referee's Exclusive Remedy for Assault
04/16/2026 | 0
The Minnesota Court of Appeals refused to let a basketball referee sue his employer for a courtside assault during a recreational game, ruling that he failed to satisfy a narrow legal exception that requires an attack to be wholly unrelated to employment.
The assault exception to exclusivity applies only when a third party intentionally injures a worker for reasons that have nothing to do with the job. Because the altercation stemmed from Philip Ayeni's officiating duties and there was no evidence that his attackers were motivated by personal reasons unrelated to his employment, the Minne...
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An Ohio appellate court upheld a fee award of $4,200 for a worker in a long-running dispute over his entitlement to benefits, even though the fees he actually incurred far exceeded this amount, the statutory maximum available.
Case: Shields v. McCloud, No. 115499, 03/19/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Michael Shields worked as a mechanic for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. He injured his left shoulder at work in 2015.
The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation allowed Shields’ claim for a left shoulder strain.
In 2017, Shields sought benefits for an al...
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the denial of duty disability retirement benefits to an injured police officer.
Case: State ex rel. Lara v. City of Milwaukee, No. 2024AP1685, 03/18/2026, published.
Facts: Benjean F. Lara worked as an officer for the Milwaukee Police Department for 17 years. In September 2019, Lara fell and hit his head while working.
Lara began seeing Dr. Gerald Nora, a physician specializing in brain injury rehabilitation, who provided ongoing care and treatment for a mild traumatic brain injury.
Lara also underwent multiple independent medical examinations conducte...
A New York appellate court ruled that a Labor Law defendant was not entitled to summary judgment dismissing a worker’s claims for her injuries from a scaffold accident.
Case: Castro v. City of New York, No. 33106/19, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Korrein Castro suffered injuries when a scaffold she was using rolled and one of its legs went into a hole, causing the structure to tip over and onto her.
Procedural history: Castro filed suit against the City of New York, asserting claims for negligence and violations of the Labor Law.
The city moved for summary judgment dismissing Ca...
The Division of Workers’ Compensation has added thorough quality assurance checklists for med-legal evaluators to its website that could also be useful for attorneys, hearing representatives and other practitioners as well.
A team of doctors, attorneys and judges teamed up and created the checklists in an effort to improve med-legal reporting by physicians in the workers’ compensation system. There is one checklist for most med-legal exams, and a second checklist that focuses on psych med-legal exams.
The checklists are available at this link.
A helpful tool in the...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker who fell from a makeshift platform was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim.
Case: DaSilva v. Super P57 LLC, No. 160766/17, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Ivoir DaSilva suffered injuries in a fall while working on a construction project.
According to DaSilva, he was standing on a plank that was 3 to 4.5 feet above a metal awning when the unsecured plank suddenly shifted and tipped. He then fell onto the awning.
DaSilva claimed there were no tie-off points at least 2 feet above where he was standing on the plank and that...
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill that would ensure workers' compensation coverage is available for volunteer firefighters and paramedics who are injured during organized fundraising activities.
The House on Tuesday voted 199-2 to pass HB 2087, which would say these volunteers are considered employees while they are participating in such events.
Rep. Robert Freeman, D-Easton, said that though courts have authorized benefits for volunteers, the workers aren't explicitly covered, as a matter of law.
Precedent from cases decided in the 1970s and 1980s holds th...
The Hawaii Senate returned amended bills addressing treatment plans, vocational rehabilitation and functional capacity exams to the state House of Representatives for additional debate.
The Senate on Tuesday voted 25-0 to pass HB 1509, HB 1514 and HB 1515.
HB 1509 would authorize penalties if employers don't file a timely response accepting or objecting to a physician's proposed treatment plan.
The bill was amended in the Senate to require employers to file a response within seven days, instead of 10 days as the bill initially proposed.
To justify a denial, employers would be...
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that D.R. Horton was entitled to a judgment notwithstanding a jury verdict that found it liable for a trench accident that injured a subcontractor’s employee.
The high court said Tim Kono did not identify any exceptions to the baseline rule that a general contractor doesn't owe a duty of care to the employees of a subcontractor.
"Whether a duty exists is a threshold question of law in a negligence case; the defendant cannot be held liable without it," the court said. "Because the district court erred in concluding that D.R. Horton owed Ko...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that a retail seller of medical supplies is not a medical provider.
Case: Scomed Supply v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., No. 79 C.D. 2025, 03/16/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Scomed Supply is a retail seller of medical supplies. It dispensed medical goods to Pedro Velez III, including electrodes, batteries, lead wires, moisturizer and alcohol wipes. The materials are necessary for the use of a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit prescribed by Velez’s physician for the treatment of a work injur...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker injured by falling pieces of drywall was entitled to summary judgment on her Labor Law claim.
Case: Carranza v. RXR Church-Division Tower A. Holdings LLC, No. 807623/21, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Rosita Elvira Martinez Carranza suffered injuries while working on a construction project. She was transporting drywall on a cart, as the site foreman had instructed her, when the cart got caught on debris and flipped, causing the drywall to fall on her.
The cart was carrying eight pieces of drywall, approximately 1-inch thick and weighing aro...
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of summary judgment on a Labor Law claim by a worker who fell from a ladder after an electrical explosion within 2 feet of his face.
Case: Arias v. Brooks Holdings Corp., No. 154787/19, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Nelson Arias worked for New York Interior Construction as a helper. In October 2016, Arias and his colleagues were working to renovate a unit in a cooperative apartment building in Manhattan.
At around 3 p.m., the electrician on the crew told Arias and another helper to run an electrical line from the unit's kitchen to the buildin...
The California Assembly Insurance Committee is scheduled to hear testimony on a bill proposing reforms to the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund that mirrors a measure Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed last year.
The committee is scheduled to hear testimony on AB 1576 when it meets on April 22. AB 2098, which would prohibit firing or threatening to fire an injured worker for getting treatment during the workday, is also on the agenda for the hearing.
AB 1576, by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-San Leandro, would require that injured workers seeking SIBTF benefits provide substantial evidence of a p...
The Alaska Senate passed a bill that would require companies such as DoorDash and Instacart to provide couriers with the same occupational accident coverage that companies such as Uber and Lyft must provide to their drivers.
The Senate on Monday voted 17-3 to pass SB 35, which Sen. Jesse Bjorkman said he introduced to create a level playing field for all workers involved in delivery and transportation network companies.
The law defines transportation network drivers as independent contractors. Companies contracting with drivers are required to provide a truncated version of workers' comp...
The Industrial Commission of Arizona approved updates to the 2026 Physicians' and Pharmaceutical Fee Schedule for services provided on or after May 1.
Changes to the fee schedule were driven largely by stakeholder input and include a new dental fee schedule that balances the needs of providers and payers, the commission said.
“The 2026 fee schedule updates largely reflect the insights and collaboration of the Arizona workers’ compensation community,” said ICA Medical Resource Office Manager Valerie Ruiz. “A primary example is the dental fee schedule rate table, wh...
NATL. - WCRI: Air Ambulance Costs Soar Despite Limited Use in Workers' Compensation
The use of air ambulance services in workers' compensation claims remains relatively rare but continues to drive significant costs, with payments rising sharply over the past decade, according to a report by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
Air ambulances play a critical role in transporting severely injured workers, particularly in emergencies where rapid access to trauma care is essential. However, policymakers and payers are increasingly scrutinizing their cost, billing practices and regulatory oversight.
The report released Monday found that air ambulance utilization is h...
