OH - Court Overturns Summary Dismissal of Worker's Claim for Aggravation Injuries
01/30/2026 | 0
An Ohio appellate court overturned a grant of summary judgment for an employer on a worker’s claim for benefits for an aggravation of his preexisting shoulder conditions.
Alexander Taye worked as a corrections officer for the Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility. He allegedly suffered injuries at work in April 2021.
The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation accepted liability for left and right shoulder sprains, left and right knee sprains, a cervical spine sprain and a lumbar spine sprain.
Chiropractor Robert Nichols ordered a magnetic resonance imaging scan in Septembe...
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The Nebraska Court of Appeals upheld an award of benefits to a nurse but found that she failed to establish additional disability or compensable conditions resulting from her employment or her work-related wrist injury.
Case: Patubo v. Health Carousel LLC, No. A-25-364, 01/13/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Ladyan Patubo worked as a registered nurse for Health Carousel LLC, a staffing agency. She allegedly injured her right wrist at work in May 2021.
Her primary care physician diagnosed her with a wrist sprain and advised her to take a week off from work, which she did.
Patubo returned...
A New York appellate court revived a worker’s Labor Law claim against one defendant and granted summary judgment on his claim against two others.
Case: Mustafaj v. City of New York, No. 800323/22E, 01/08/2026, published.
Facts: Ismajl Mustafaj allegedly suffered injuries while working as part of a team excavating and doing plumbing work in a trench in the Bronx, connecting water service from the street to a building.
According to Mustafaj, he was bent over in a 6-foot-deep excavation inspecting a tunnel near the bottom when a 400-pound pipe fell and struck his back.
The Cit...
A New York appellate court rejected a defendant’s claim that it was an alter ego of an allegedly injured worker’s employer and allowed the worker to proceed with his suit against it.
Case: Palma v. Woodside Ventures LLC, No. 20867/18, 01/13/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Javier Palma allegedly suffered injuries while working for A&E Real Estate Management LLC. He filed suit against Woodside Ventures LLC, seeking damages for his injuries.
Woodside moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, asserting that it was an alter ego of A&E and that ...
Sacramento, CA [December 10, 2025] Today, POWER proudly announced its official launch as a laser-focused non-profit organized to take direct action against fraud and criminal activity in California's temporary staffing industry.
"One of the biggest crimes taking place in California's workforce is hiding in plain sight. The temporary staffing industry has become a largely unregulated playground for cri...
Though seemingly a simple defense, intoxication oftentimes trips up unsuspecting defendants.
The $64,000 question is: How difficult a defense is it to plead successfully?
The answer: So much so that it just may drive you to the bottle. Indeed, the defendant recently learned this the hard way in Griffith v. Salute Mission Critical.
From the defense perspective, the facts in Griffith seemed favorable:
The decedent was killed by a tow truck while crossing a dark road on foot.
Although the dark road seemed to be a bit of a problem, the defense argued quite convincing...
An Arizona lawmaker introduced legislation that would require regulations protecting workers from extreme heat and cold.
HB 2928 would direct the Industrial Commission of Arizona to establish standards for every industry that may be affected by heat illness, as well as specific rules for industries including agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, airport workers, and mail and package delivery.
For those working more than an hour in temperatures of 80 degrees or more, the standards must require "one cup of cool water per 15-20 minutes, as well as electrolytes.&qu...
The Oregon Workers' Compensation Division increased the threshold used to determine gainful employment and eligibility for permanent total disability benefits.
An injured worker's adjusted average weekly wage and the federal poverty guidelines for a family of three are the key factors in determining gainful employment.
The federal poverty level for a family of three in Oregon increased to $26,650 in 2025 from $25,820.
For injuries on or after Jan. 1, 2006, the gainful employment threshold is the lesser of the worker’s adjusted yearly earnings or the current federal poverty lev...
NATL. - WCRI Study Highlights Rising Joint Replacement Trends in Comp
Joint replacement surgeries are increasingly showing up in workers' compensation claims, with procedure rates rising steadily and recovery times stretching longer, according to findings released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
The study, covering claims from 32 states for injuries occurring between 2015 and 2022 with two years of postinjury experience, shows that the rate of joint replacement procedures per 1,000 lost-time claims rose from 7 to 8.3 over the study period.
Most of this growth reflects a shift from inpatient to outpatient settings, with inpatient jo...
“Fast-emerging” large workers' compensation claims, or those reaching $1 million or an applicable threshold in incurred losses within roughly two years of injury, now make up a majority of all large claims, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
Fast-emerging claims accounted for 59% of claims exceeding $1 million in 2023, up from 27% in 2003, according to figures from the industry group. Slow-emerging large claims have declined as a share of large losses over the same period.
NCCI defines large claims as those with total incurred losses above specified ...
A federal appellate court in an unpublished decision upheld a grant of summary judgment dismissing a Colorado volunteer firefighter’s bad faith actions against the administrators who handled his claim.
Cyrus Rajabi served as a volunteer firefighter for the Arvada Fire Protection District. He suffered injuries during a training exercise in April 2017.
Arvada Fire reported the incident to its insurance carrier, which used Tristar Group as its claims administrator. Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. took over as the claims administrator in July 2020.
Rajabi was diagnosed with compl...
The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the denial of an employer’s motion to set aside a default judgment as untimely.
Case: Gamez v. EasyEx MO Ofallon LLC, No. ED113623, 01/13/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Celestina Gamez worked for EasyEx MO Ofallon LLC. After her employment ended, she filed suit against EasyEx, asserting claims for violations of the Missouri Human Rights Act and the workers’ compensation law.
EasyEx’s registered agent was served in December 2023.
After EasyEx failed to respond to the lawsuit, a trial judge entered a default judgment agai...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for a fall from a ramp into an adjacent trench.
Case: Altamirano v. Frick Collection, No. 156167/22, 01/06/2025, published.
Facts: Segundo Altamirano allegedly suffered injuries while he and some co-workers were maneuvering a four-wheeled "mini container" of debris down a ramp at a construction site.
The ramp spanned a height differential of 2 feet between two buildings and was adjacent to a trench that was 3 or 4 feet deep. There were no guardrails to prevent Altamirano fro...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker who fell from a scaffold was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim.
Case: Tejeda v. 57th & 6th Ground LLC, No. 157783/18, 596011/19, 01/08/2026, published.
Facts: Juan Miguel Presinal Tejeda suffered injuries when he fell off a scaffold while performing painting work for his employer, ASK Standard Transit Corp.
The accident happened at a property owned by 57th & 6th Ground LLC, Carnegie House Tenants Corp. and Georgetown 57 LLC.
Procedural history: Tejeda filed suit against the property owners, asserting a claim for a vio...
A New York roofing contractor settled with the U.S. Labor Department over workplace safety violations stemming from a 2021 fatal fall through an unprotected skylight.
An investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that DME Construction Associates failed to protect workers from fall hazards at a municipal building project in Oyster Bay, where employees were replacing steel roof decking. In August 2021, an employee fell about 18 feet through a skylight and later died from his injuries.
OSHA determined that workers were exposed to fall hazards of up to 22 feet ...
The California Senate passed an amended bill to adjust permanent partial disability benefits that no longer includes an automatic adjustment for inflation.
The Senate on Tuesday voted 30-10 to pass SB 555, by Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Fresno, which would set permanent partial disability benefits in statute for injuries occurring on or after Jan. 1. As passed, the bill contains blank spaces instead of specifying what the minimum and maximum PPD benefits would be.
Earlier versions of SB 555 proposed automatically increasing PPD benefits each year based on the cost-of-living adjustment fo...
The California Division of Workers' Compensation on Wednesday said all applicants for reappointment as a qualified medical evaluator must satisfy new continuing education requirements by April 1.
In February 2024, the Office of Administrative Law approved rules that the DWC proposed, which included new educational criteria for QMEs seeking reappointment after April 1, 2026.
California Code of Regulations 55.1 requires 16 continuing education hours for reappointment as a QME. The curriculum must include four hours of instruction in disability impairment rating and three hours of inst...
