OH - Split Supreme Court Upholds VSSR Award for Worker's Conveyor Belt Accident
04/02/2026 | 0
A divided Ohio Supreme Court upheld a worker's enhanced award for injuries from a conveyor belt accident due to his employer's violation of a specific safety requirement.
Keith Rice worked in the maintenance department for Whirlpool Corp.
On Nov. 28, 2017, after learning that multiple conveyors were not working, Rice walked the machine lines to identify the problem.
Rice came to a point that required him to cross over a conveyor. The designated crossing point consisted of a ladder affixed to either side of the conveyor line, and atop each ladder was a small platform welded to t...
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A federal appellate court upheld summary judgment dismissing an injured longshoreman’s claims of vessel negligence against a technical manager.
Case: Renteria v. Grieg Star AS, No. 25-20131, 03/06/2026, published.
Facts: Balvina Renteria was a longshore worker employed by Cooper/Ports America. On her third day of unloading cargo from the M/V Star Juventas, Renteria stepped on plastic sheeting covering a gap between stacked cargo and fell 10 feet to the steel deck of the cargo hold.
The cargo consisted of 10-foot-tall rolls of kraft liner board stacked with airbags in some of the gaps ...
A Texas appellate court upheld a take-nothing judgment on an injured longshoreman’s negligence claims.
Case: Norman v. Kahn Scheepvaart BV, No. 14-24-00176-CV, 03/31/2026, published.
Facts: Kahn Scheepvaart BV owns and operates the M/V Fairload. In June 2015, the Fairload docked at the Port of Houston. It was carrying a 217-ton boiler and its specialized lifting frame, sometimes referred to as a spreader bar.
Longshore workers from stevedore “Cooper/T. Smith” participated in the heavy lift operation. Franchae Norman was one of the longshoremen participating.
A member of t...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been granted partial summary judgment on his Labor Law claims and that the defendant should have been awarded conditional contractual indemnification from a third party.
Case: Stewart v. JMDH Real Estate Offices LLC, No. 159073/20 595629/21, 03/12/2026, published.
Facts: Max Stewart suffered injuries while working on a construction project when he tripped over a raised Masonite board.
Procedural history: Stewart filed suit against JMDH Real Estate Offices LLC, asserting claims for negligence and violations of the Labor Law...
NATL. - CopperPoint Names Kellen Booher CEO
CopperPoint Insurance on Wednesday named Kellen Booher president and CEO, succeeding Marc Schmittlein, who is retiring from the role after leading the company’s transformation over the past decade.
Booher joined the Phoenix-based workers' compensation and commercial insurer in 2025 as president and chief operating officer, overseeing field and operating functions and helping advance strategic initiatives.
Schmittlein will remain as chair of the board. Schmittlein, who joined the company in 2016, led its transition from a single-state, monoline workers' compensation ins...
The Louisiana House Education Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to advance legislation aimed at strengthening protections for teachers and other school employees in cases involving student assaults.
HB 283 would require the immediate suspension and removal of a student accused of assaulting or battering a school employee, regardless of whether the incident occurs on or off campus.
The bill also mandates expulsion for at least two semesters for students found guilty of assault, with placement in alternative education settings and participation in anger management programs. It removes a...
Lawmakers in Louisiana are considering legislation that would revise key aspects of the state’s workers' compensation system, including how maximum medical improvement is defined and how long certain wage-loss benefits are paid.
HB 1101, introduced Tuesday, would for the first time define maximum medical improvement, or MMI, in statute as the point at which an employee’s condition is unlikely to substantially improve, even if ongoing treatment is needed to manage symptoms or chronic pain.
The proposal would tie the duration of temporary total disability benefits to that ...
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the state Bureau of Workers’ Compensation must administer its group retrospective rating program for the 2018 policy year, despite having issued full premium refunds to employers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In State ex rel. Kent Elastomer Prods. Inc. v. McCloud, the court affirmed a lower court’s decision granting a limited writ of mandamus directing the bureau to apply its administrative rules and determine whether additional refunds or assessments are owed.
The dispute arose after Kent Elastomer Products Inc.,...
The Montana Workers’ Compensation Court denied a worker’s request to have his permanent total disability benefits converted to a lump sum.
Derek Trogden is a 40-year-old married father of four. His two eldest children are adults who do not live with him and his wife.
The two youngest children have jobs at a manufacturing plant where they are supervised by Trogden’s brother. Neither contributes any earnings toward the family’s living expenses.
Trogden’s wife is a full-time pharmacy technician. She suffers from multiple medical conditions that alle...
A federal appellate court denied an employer’s petition for review of black lung benefits to a worker with totally disabling legal pneumoconiosis.
Case: Cedar Coal Co. v. OWCP, No. 24-1063, 03/06/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Roger Mullins filed a claim under the Black Lung Benefits Act in 2012, alleging that he was totally disabled due to pulmonary disease caused by coal dust.
After his claim was denied, Mullins filed a request for modification in 2019 in which he alleged that the earlier administrative law judge had made a mistake of fact and that th...
A divided Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the mother of a worker killed in an underground water vault sufficiently and plausibly pleaded intentional conduct by the employer such that exclusivity did not bar her civil action.
Case: Heiden v. Village of Westmont, No. 3-25-0071, 03/05/2026, published.
Facts: Matthew Heiden worked for the Village of Westmont as a water maintenance worker.
In February 2023, the village became aware of a leaking valve in an underground water vault. The vault was a confined space, as defined under the general provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Ac...
A New York appellate court ruled that the construction manager for a project was entitled to partial summary judgment dismissing an injured worker’s negligence and Labor Law claims against it.
Case: Veloso v. Scaturro Brothers Inc., No. 153222/17, 595235/19, 03/10/2026, published.
Facts: Alexandre Veloso allegedly suffered injuries while performing lead abatement work at a construction site.
The Hunter Roberts Construction Group LLC was the construction manager for the project.
Procedural history: Veloso filed suit against HRCG, asserting negligence and violations of the Labor Law.
...
A Colorado grand jury indicted an insurance broker for allegedly diverting more than $100,000 in insurance premiums intended for nine insurance companies, including the state-chartered workers' compensation carrier.
The grand jury indictment handed down Friday alleges that Jorge Gonzalez-Hermosillo, who is also known as George Gonzalez and owns brokerage Amerimex Insurance LLC, failed to remit to Pinnacol Assurance at least $2,954 in workers' compensation premiums paid by employers between Feb. 28, 2022, and Jan. 8, 2024.
Pinnacol in January 2024 reported 55-year-old Gonzalez to...
Medical provider networks in workers' compensation are associated with significantly lower claim costs, faster access to care and shorter disability durations, according to a report released Tuesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
The study found that claims treated within networks had 26% lower total costs — about $11,800 less per claim — compared with out-of-network claims at 36 months of maturity. Medical payments alone were 27% lower, or roughly $3,500 per claim, at 12 months.
Researchers also found that injured workers receiving in-network care accessed t...
The California Division of Workers' Compensation posted an order updating the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule drug list.
The division said the order adopts updates to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's practice guidelines based on the revised Traumatic Brain Injury guideline.
The MTUS list identifies medications that are designated as exempt from prospective utilization review when prescribed in accordance with the treatment guidelines. Drugs not designated as exempt are subject to prospective UR.
The list also identifies certain drugs that are ...
