KY - Supreme Court Upholds AWW Calculation, Revives Billing Dispute, Clarifies Amicus Rules
03/24/2026 | 0
The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that a worker’s average weekly wage properly excluded her mileage reimbursements, that her appeal of an unpaid medical bill should not have been dismissed, and that an amicus brief should not have been deemed an unauthorized filing.
Tamala Harris worked for Mercy Home Health as a certified nursing assistant.
She worked 30 to 40 hours a week and cared for an average of four to five patients. Mercy reimbursed her for the mileage she drove during her shifts to reach each patient’s location.
On April 27, 2022, Harris strained her right...
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A New York appellate court partially revived a Labor Law action by a worker who suffered injuries when he backed his personal vehicle into an unguarded trench at a construction site.
Case: Palacios v. McEvoy, No. 2023-04963, 02/25/2026, published.
Facts: Jose Leon Palacios suffered injuries when he reversed his personal vehicle into an unguarded trench at a construction site where a home was being built.
Farrell Building Co. Inc was the general contractor for the project. Robert and Sabrina McEvoy were the owners of the property.
Procedural history: Palacios filed suit against the McEvoys ...
A New York appellate court overturned a grant of summary judgment for the state on a worker’s Labor Law claim for her alleged injuries from attempting to exit a moving vehicle.
Case: Mendes v. New York, No. 2024-05544, 02/25/2026, published.
Facts: Nizia Florencia Silva Mendes was allegedly injured while mixing paint inside the back of a box truck when the truck began to move.
According to Mendes, she tried to exit through the back of the truck, but at the same time, a co-worker began to raise the lift gate. Mendes alleged that she ran toward the back of the truck, lost her ...
The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the summary dismissal of a Walmart worker’s civil suit seeking damages for his injuries from being struck by a truck while jogging in a distribution center parking lot.
Case: Duke v. Walmart Inc., No. SC-2026-0074, 03/20/2026, published.
Facts: Phillip Duke and Qeon Gray both worked for Walmart Inc.
On Oct. 2, 2024, Duke was allegedly jogging in the parking lot of a Walmart distribution center when he was struck by a tractor-trailer truck being driven by Gray.
Gray was acting in the course and scope of his employment at the time. Although Duke l...
New research illuminates a serious problem for injured workers: secondary psychological injuries resulting from the sheer hardship of navigating workers’ comp systems.
A report from Australia's Monash University examines the mental health impact of workers’ compensation systems that impose bureaucratic complexity. Drawing on injured worker surveys, stakeholder interviews and claims data, the report finds that workers facing delays in claim approval were roughly four times more likely to report a persistently negat...
A California lawmaker introduced legislation that would modify what employers are required to disclose about their use of artificial intelligence for workplace surveillance.
California Privacy Protection Agency regulations that took effect at the start of the year require businesses to notify customers, including employees and applicants, when they're using automated technology to make "significant decisions." The regulations require employers to conduct and document assessments to ensure that the benefits of the technology outweigh potential risks to privacy and fairness. ...
The California Department of Insurance is holding a public hearing April 28 to consider the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau's latest regulatory filing.
The bureau in February proposed changes to payroll minimum and maximum limitations, dual wage thresholds, expected loss rates and the experience rating threshold that would take effect Sept. 1.
The Insurance Department virtual hearing is at 10:30 a.m. April 28. A link to register to attend is here.
Written comments can be submitted during the public comment period that closes at 5 p.m. April 28.
Comments can be s...
The Arizona state House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill that would require insurers issuing zero estimated exposure policies to include a statement from the applicant attesting to the accuracy of the information provided to secure coverage.
HB 2680, which the House passed 55-1, would require applicants to sign a statement saying they have no employees, no estimated exposure and that they will provide written notification within 60 days of hiring workers. The attestation would also include a statement that intentional omissions or misrepresentations are illegal.
Employers with...
The Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division published new cost-to-charge ratios used to calculate reimbursement owed to hospitals for treating injured workers starting April 1.
Hospital payments are calculated by multiplying the total bill by the ratio assigned to the specific facility providing services.
For rural in-state hospitals as well as facilities outside of the state, the ratio is 1, meaning the bill is paid in full.
Cost-to-charge ratios range from 0.243 to 0.583 for other hospitals.
Bulletin No. 290 with revised hospital cost-to-charge ratios is here.
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Bills that would expand Maryland's hypertension presumption for firefighters and extend the heart disease and hypertension presumption to correctional officers in another county are moving through the General Assembly.
The House of Delegates on Thursday voted 129-2 to pass HB 347, which would revise the hypertension presumption for firefighters. The same day, the Senate voted 45-0 to pass companion measure SB 90. The House on Thursday also voted 130-1 to pass HB 878, which would apply heart and hypertension presumptions to correctional workers in Carroll County, while the Senate...
A divided Kentucky Supreme Court revived a lawsuit against two defendants, finding they had a duty to protect against foreseeable harm posed by their employees' exposing household members to asbestos dust.
Union Carbide Corp. was the manufacturer of asbestos-containing molding compounds purchased and used by Square D Co. during the 1960s and 1970s.
Ken Baxter began working for Square D in the late 1960s, and he allegedly worked in or around the mold room.
Baxter and his wife adopted a daughter, Vickie Williams, in 1967. While Williams was growing up, Baxter allegedly would regularly com...
A California appellate court upheld the summary dismissal of an injured worker’s civil claim against the contractor that hired his employer, finding the worker’s action failed due to the Privette doctrine.
The general contractor for a pedestrian bridge project in Menlo Park hired Ghilotti Construction Co. Inc. to provide “all labor, material, equipment, detailing and supervision” for the project.
Ghilotti subcontracted the rebar reinforcing work to Camblin Steel Service Inc.
On the day Camblin was set to start working on the project, Ghilotti workers were pumpin...
A New York appellate court ruled that a general contractor was entitled to partial summary judgment dismissing some of the claims against it in a Labor Law action, and that it was entitled to indemnification from a subcontractor who installed a defective ceiling.
Case: Fernandez v. Sub 412 Associates LLC, No. 161024/17, 595145/20, 595264/20, 02/24/2026, published.
Facts: Sub 412 Associates LLC owned a property that it leased to The Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., which hired Nucor Construction Corp. to renovate the space.
Nucor hired Manhattan Fine Cleaners Inc. to clean the worksite. Juan Fer...
A New York appellate court ruled that the owners and tenants of a property should have been granted partial summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claims for his injuries from being struck by a falling object.
Case: Butler v. Marco Realty Associates LP, No. 156776/17, 595506/18, 02/24/2026, published.
Facts: Larone Butler worked as a demolition laborer for Always First Inc. He suffered injuries while working at a property when a pipe fell from the ceiling above him.
Marco Realty Associates LP owned the building. Old Navy LLC and The Gap Inc. were its tenants.
James Hunt Constructio...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld an award of benefits to a worker for a closed head injury resulting from a fall.
Case: Gracious Dining LLC v. Lopez, No. 25-ICA-336, 02/27/2026, published.
Facts: Miriam Lopez worked for Gracious Dining LLC. She went to the hospital on Nov. 11, 2023, with complaints of a head injury and pain in her right wrist and left ankle after tripping and falling at work.
Her medical history included a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, diabetes and spasticity.
A computed tomography scan of Lopez’s brain revealed no acute intracrani...
PA - Medical Supply Vendor Not a Provider Under Comp Law
A Pennsylvania appellate court ruled that a medical supply company is not a “health care provider” under the state’s workers' compensation law, affirming a denial of additional reimbursement for supplies provided to an injured worker.
In Scomed Supply v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania held that Scomed, a distributor of durable medical equipment, did not qualify for fee review protections available to providers under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
The dispute centered on supplies — including electrodes, batteries...
