TX - Court Upholds Take-Nothing Judgment on Worker's Negligence Claim
06/12/2026 | 0
A Texas appellate court upheld a take-nothing judgment against a manufacturer on a worker’s negligence claim.
Bell Textron Inc. produces helicopters, and at its Grand Prairie facility, it makes transmission parts. To ensure that its helicopters can operate in harsh conditions, Bell coats the transmission parts with cadmium to protect against corrosion.
Before the cadmium can be applied, the parts must be cleaned with hydrochloric acid and cyanide. Because acid and cyanide can cause a dangerous chemical reaction when mixed, they are kept in separate tanks.
To ensure safety during the c
Read More
The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that a trial judge erred in dismissing a worker’s personal injury claim on the basis of judicial estoppel because he had not disclosed it in his prior bankruptcy case.
Case: Eller v. ABM Industries Inc., No. 395, 05/13/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Kyle Eller slipped and fell while at work in 2019, suffering injuries that required several surgeries.
In April 2021, Eller filed for bankruptcy, and although he listed his pending workers’ compensation claim on his petition, he did not separately list his as-then-unfiled third-party
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a finding that a worker had no permanent impairment from a shoulder injury.
Case: Harris v. AHF LLC, No. 25-580, 06/01/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Phillip Harris worked for AHF LLC. He injured his right shoulder at work in February 2021. A claims administrator for AHF’s insurance carrier accepted liability for a right shoulder sprain.
Harris’ doctor later sought authorization to perform surgery on Harris’ right shoulder, but the claims administrator denied the request.
The Board of Review upheld the denial in Augus
A New York appellate court revived part of a worker’s Labor Law claim for his injuries from slipping and falling on stairs.
Case: Ziobro v Milan House Inc., No. 154028/17, 05/26/2026, published.
Facts: Witold Ziobro allegedly suffered injuries when he and two co-workers were using stairs to carry bags of debris up to the street.
Ziobro was in the middle of the stairs between his co-workers when he slipped on debris from torn bags as they were being handed off.
Procedural history: Ziobro filed suit against Milan House Inc. and Brown Harris Stevens Residential Manag
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker struck by a falling pipe was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim and that the property owner and property manager were entitled to conditional contractual indemnification.
Case: Bermeo v. Master Plumbing & Heating Inc., No. 154471/20, 05/26/2026, published.
Facts: Jose Bermeo worked for Pelham Construction Corp., the general contractor on a building renovation project. As Bermeo was retrieving a piece of drywall from a storage room, he was struck on the head by a piece of steel sprinkler pipe that was leaning agains
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of a plaintiff’s motion to vacate a default judgment.
Case: Lotus Residences LLC v. Northfield Insurance Co., No. 653599/20, 05/26/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Lotus Residences LLC filed a motion to vacate a default judgment against Castillo Contractors Inc. in favor of Northfield Insurance Co.
The judgment arose out of an insurance coverage dispute in a personal injury action. Northfield had filed a cross-claim against Castillo for a declaration of no coverage based upon the "employer exclusion" in its policy.
CA - WCIRB: Cumulative Trauma Comp Claims Rise Sharply
Cumulative trauma claims represent a growing share of California workers' compensation indemnity claims, with post-termination filings and litigation pushing up system costs, according to a report released Wednesday by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California.
The WCIRB found that the share of indemnity claims involving cumulative trauma was relatively stable before the pandemic but has risen sharply since then, reaching a high in 2024 of 26% of indemnity claims, up from 13% in 2012.
Cumulative trauma claims stem from repetitive physical or mental trauma
The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that res judicata did not bar a worker’s claim for benefits for a back injury.
Russell Jones worked for Top Shelf Energy LLC and was involved in a work-related motor vehicle accident.
Subsequent imaging revealed acute disc herniation and preexisting degenerative spinal changes.
Workforce Safety and Insurance accepted Jones’ claim for benefits for the disc herniation but denied liability for the preexisting lumbar degeneration, as well as his claim for a left leg injury.
Jones requested reconsideration only of the denial of th
The West Virginia Supreme Court declined to expand a worker’s claim to add pulmonary emboli as a compensable condition.
Case: Nelson v. Wayne County Board of Education, No. 25-821, 06/01/2026, published.
Facts: Kathy Nelson worked for the Wayne County Board of Education as a high school teacher. She injured her right shoulder in May 2022 while lifting a heavy box of books.
She was eventually diagnosed with a full-thickness tear of her right rotator cuff and underwent authorized arthroscopic repair surgery in March 2023.
After the shoulder surgery, Nelson had a period of convalescence
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claim for an alleged fall.
Case: Ordonez v. NY Developers & Management LLC, No. 2024-12756, 05/20/2026, published.
Facts: Wilmer Ordonez allegedly fell and sustained injuries while working at an elevation at a construction site owned by 310 Grand Concourse LLC.
Procedural history: Ordonez filed suit against Grand Concourse and NY Developers and Management LLC, the alleged general contractor for the project.
Ordonez asserted a claim for a violation of Labor Law Section 240(1).
Section 240(1)
A New York appellate court reinstated part of a worker’s Labor Law claim for his injuries from lifting a heavy crate.
Case: Chiappa v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, No. 805328/22, 05/21/2026, published.
Facts: Michael Chiappa allegedly was injured while working on a construction project at LaGuardia Airport.
The property is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which leased it to Delta Air Lines Inc.
According to Chiappa, a Delta superintendent instructed him to move 10 crates of construction material, each weighing around 400 pounds, across an exp
A New York appellate court ruled that a Labor Law defendant should have been granted summary judgment dismissing the claims against it.
Case: Perez v. Kew Gardens Development Corp., No. 453196/17, 05/21/2026, published.
Facts: Ronny Carvajal Perez allegedly suffered injuries while working on a construction project at a property owned by Kew Gardens Development Corp.
Procedural history: Perez filed suit against NYC Elegant Improvements Inc., asserting a claim for negligence and violations of the Labor Law.
Elegant moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against it.
New York Cou
A New York appellate court upheld summary judgment for a worker who was sent airborne while he was attempting to use his body as a counterweight to a 1,000-pound column he was hoisting.
Case: Andrade v. 1203 E New York Ave Owner LLC, No. 154137/22, 05/21/2026, published.
Facts: Victor Andrade suffered injuries while working on a construction project.
According to Andrade, he was using a manual crane called a roustabout and acting as a counterweight by standing on the roustabout's legs when the approximately 1,000-pound column he was hoisting fell, launching him into the air an
A new study reveals that cumulative trauma claims have increased sharply in recent years and are contributing to notable changes in claim characteristics, costs and outcomes, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California said.
WCIRB's report, Emerging Patterns of Cumulative Trauma Claims, released Wednesday, demonstrates that CT claims play a growing role in system-wide trends, with higher levels of litigation and earlier involvement of medical-legal and interpreter services than non-CT claims. The growth is influencing medical an
The Minnesota Supreme Court clarified the statutory presumption for a public safety officer to have been killed in the line of duty if he dies of a heart attack, stroke or vascular rupture.
Eric William Groebner worked for the Anoka Police Department as a patrol officer. He worked a 12-hour shift on Sept. 13, 2022.
Near the end of his shift, Groebner and another officer responded to a call reporting a child with a knife. Groebner drove to the scene through a residential neighborhood, reaching a top speed of 59 miles per hour.
There was no evidence of a knife when Groebner arrived. He s
