OH - High Court Orders Vacatur of Mandamus as Moot Following Worker's Death
10/13/2026 | 0
The Ohio Supreme Court ordered an appeals court to dismiss a worker’s challenge to the denial of permanent total disability benefits because the worker died while the case was pending.
The high court rejected the argument that the 10th District Court of Appeals lost jurisdiction over the action when David McCartney died, but it agreed that his death rendered the action moot and that the specific facts of the case require the lower court to vacate its decision.
McCartney was receiving permanent partial disability benefits for a March 2001 injury sustained while working for Simco Managem
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The Court of Appeals of the State of Nevada affirmed a district court decision ordering Clark County and Corvel Corp. to pay permanent total disability benefits to a retired firefighter.
Case: Clark County and Corvel Corp. v. Joseph Castiglia, No. 90771-COA, 10/08/2026, published.
Facts: Joseph Castiglia worked as a firefighter for Clark County for about 25 years before retiring in 2005. In 2014, he was diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
His occupational disease claim was accepted, and he was awarded medical benefits.
In 2022, his physician opined that the heart condition rendered him
The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that an injured worker either had to undergo the surgery recommended by two of his treating doctors or have his total disability benefits terminated.
Case: Galich v. SIPA North America Inc., No. COA25-512, 10/07/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Sergey Galich worked as a field service engineer for SIPA North America Inc. He injured his right shoulder at work in February 2020.
Galich was diagnosed with a right shoulder strain.
SIPA accepted liability for the injury, and Galich began receiving weekly payments of $1,066 from the company's worker
A Florida appellate court upheld an award of benefits for a firefighter’s cardiac condition against the first of his two employers, with which he worked when he developed heart disease.
Case: City of Maitland v. McGovern, No. 1D2025-2729, 10/07/2026, published.
Facts: William McGovern began working as a firefighter for the City of Maitland in 1988. He passed a preemployment physical with no evidence of heart disease.
In June 2012, McGovern had a cardiac stenting procedure performed after a heart catheterization revealed a 70% to 80% occlusion of his left anterior descending
One topic that has regularly arisen in countless panel decisions over the years, yet still is the subject of much confusion, is whether a party disputing a trial judge’s decision should file a petition for removal or a petition for reconsideration.
The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board attempted to address the confusion in the 2024 significant panel decision of Latrice Reed v. County of San Bernardino. Perhaps the most important takeaway from that panel decision was that inappropriate petitions for reconsideration are potentially sanctionable.
I learned this early on,
A Columbus woman pleaded guilty to one count of fraud after investigators found out that she was taking disability benefits while working, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation said.
Betty Boateng, 50, worked as an in-home caregiver for more than one employer while accepting BWC disability benefits. The BWC said her benefit payments totaled $53,278.40.
In September, a judge ordered Boateng to serve 60 months of community control and imposed mandatory reporting requirements, restitution of the total benefit amount she received, and court costs.
“Fra
The average rates California employers pay for workers' compensation coverage may be increasing from historic lows following a decade of steady declines.
In a new analysis of insurer experience through June 30, the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau reported that the average charged rate in the first half of 2026 was $1.64 per $100 of payroll, a slight increase over the average charged rate of $1.63 in 2025.
The increase in the first half of 2026 is the first year-over-year increase in the average charged rate since 2014, when it rose to $3.19 from $3.10 the year before.&n
A New York appellate court ruled that an injured police officer’s petition for leave to file a late notice of claim was properly denied.
Case: Matter of Defonce v. Village of Port Chester, No. 2024-13266, 10/07/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Joseph Defonce, who worked for the Harrison Police Department, alleged that he was injured in a May 2023 motorcycle accident with an officer employed by the Village of Port Chester Police Department. The accident happened in the Village of Tarrytown.
He served the village with a claim notice in February 2024, more than eight m
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is leaving the determination that a retail seller of medical supplies is not a healthcare provider as the final word on the matter.
The high court on Tuesday denied a petition by Scomed Supply to review a Commonwealth Court decision finding that healthcare providers are entities that provide services rather than sell goods. As a result, the court said Scomed could not request hearings to contest fee review determinations to seek additional payment for products provided to an injured worker.
Scomed provided goods related to the use of a transcutaneous electrical
The Delaware Supreme Court upheld the denial of a worker’s benefits claim for damage to his lower teeth after he was struck in the head by a falling tree limb.
Case: Peed v. Essential Staffing Inc., No. 81, 2026, 10/05/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Craig Peed worked for Essential Staffing Inc. He suffered serious injuries in 2012 when a falling tree limb struck him on the head.
Essential’s insurance carrier paid Peed total disability benefits.
In 2016, Peed’s upper teeth began to fracture at the gum line. He received dental treatment, then filed a petitio
The Illinois Appellate Court upheld an award of benefits to a university employee for a shoulder injury.
Case: University of Illinois v. IWCC, No. 5-26-0057WC, 10/02/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Dawanna Thomas, a caterer for the University of Illinois, injured her shoulder while moving chafing dishes in August 2019.
Thomas testified that she had no right shoulder pain before the incident, had never sought treatment for it and was working full duty in a heavy-duty position.
She sought medical treatment after her shift and was diagnosed with a shoulder strain. When her symptoms persisted, she w
The Oregon Workers' Compensation Division increased the Workers' Benefit Fund assessment rate to 2.2 cents per hour worked for 2027, up from 1.8 cents in 2026.
The fund pays for cost-of-living increases for workers with permanent and total disabilities and also finances return-to-work programs. Employers must pay at least half of the assessment and can deduct up to half from workers' wages.
At the same time, the division announced an assessment rate of 0.2 cents per hour for the newly created Bureau of Labor and Industries expense fund.
Oregon lawmakers this year enacted SB 1506
The Illinois Appellate Court has published its ruling holding that two Marion police pension board members' statements about a former officer showed that they had prejudged his disability claim.
The court said the board violated Joshua Mahan's right to an impartial tribunal by failing to remove those board members before deciding to terminate his disability pension. The decision in Joshua Mahan v. Marion Police Pension Board et al. was initially handed down Sept. 2 and formally published Tuesday.
In addition to finding it improperly influenced by bias, the court also held that the bo
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled that an employee making a wrongful refusal to rehire claim must make an initial showing that he was injured in the course of his employment and the employer refused to rehire him.
Case: Bartelt Custom Automotive Inc. v. Labor and Industry Review Commission, No. 2024AP133, 10/06/2026, published.
Facts: Kevin Warlow, a welder for Bartelt Custom Automotive Inc., suffered a compensable injury to his left hand in January 2017. He received workers’ compensation benefits until he was released to return to work without restrictions in February 2017.
When h
A divided Louisiana appellate court overturned the denial of an injured truck driver’s claim for benefits, finding he was not an independent contractor as a matter of law.
Case: Smith v. RNK Construction LLC, No. 2026-CA-0078, 10/02/2026, published.
Facts: Melvin Smith was driving a dump truck down the highway after delivering a load of sand from RNK Construction LLC to one of its customers. As Smith was returning to RNK’s truck yard, he failed to negotiate a 90-degree turn, crashed into a protective barrier and suffered injuries that required medical treatment.
Procedural histo
The Maryland Appellate Court upheld the dismissal of a worker’s civil suit against the assisted living facility where she worked and its partial owner.
Case: Lee v. Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc., No. 225, 10/02/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Nancy Teresa Lee worked as a life enrichment manager at Sunrise of Bethesda, an assisted living facility ??? OWNED AND ??? operated by Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc.
She was assaulted by a resident of the assisted living facility in January 2022 and suffered a fractured spine. The Workers’ Compensation Commission found her injury c
