NY - Court Affirms Compensability Determination for Unobserved Fall
04/20/2026 | 0
A New York appeals court affirmed the determination that a man's brain and head injuries were compensable even though the mechanism of the injury was unknown.
Although nobody saw James Brognano III fall at work, the Workers' Compensation Board concluded that he was injured during his employment based on medical evidence and witness testimony. This finding required the employer to rebut the presumption of compensability, which the New York Appellate Division's 3rd Department ruled was a burden it failed to carry.
"Although the employer pointed out the uncertainty as to exactl...
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The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict finding that the successor-in-interest to a worker’s former employer was shielded from liability for her contraction of mesothelioma.
Case: Barnes v. Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Co., No. WD87843, 03/17/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Roslyn Barnes worked for Business Men’s Assurance Co. of America from 1976 until 1980.
In July 2019, she was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Three months later, she filed a workers’ compensation claim against the Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Co., which was BMA&...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a 13% permanent partial disability award for an injured worker.
Case: Blackhawk Mining LLC v. Elswick, No. 25-735, 03/24/2026, published.
Facts: Harold G. Elswick II worked for Blackhawk Mining LLC. He filed a report of injury in January 2023, asserting that he had suffered injuries from a fall at work. The physician’s portion of the form stated that Elswick sustained an injury to the neck.
An investigation report completed by Blackhawk on the day of the accident indicates that Elswick was getting out of an excavator when he lost his balance and ...
A New York appellate court said that an intervening decision by the Workers’ Compensation Board after the denial of a worker’s claim has mooted his appeal.
Case: In the Matter of Loper v. Suffolk County Water Authority, No. CV-25-0134, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Gerald Loper worked for the Suffolk County Water Authority from 1995 to 2021. He filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits in 2022, alleging that he had binaural hearing loss caused by occupational noise exposure.
The Workers' Compensation Board issued a decision in December 2024 ...
The Buddha reportedly said, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
There are only a couple of problems with this. First, although I found it on the internet (so it must be correct, right?), further research confirms this attribution cannot be authenticated. Second, there is — sadly — much evidence to contradict Buddha’s (or whoever’s) assertion.
For example, there is no credible, ABA-backed study estimating the extent to which perjury and fraud soil our legal system. However, anyone who has worked in the workers&rs...
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of a worker’s claim that he had sustained an occupational disease due to osteoarthritis in his knees, worsened by work-related repetitive movement.
Case: In the Matter of the Claim of Murad v. Tri-State Groundwater Solutions LLC, No. CV-24-1227, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Andrew Murad worked as a maintenance foreman and as a heavy equipment mechanic for various companies over the years. He applied for workers' compensation benefits in 2021 and claimed that he had sustained an occupational disease due t...
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen enacted a bill addressing experience rating credits and the confidentiality of injured workers' names and contact information.
Pillen on Tuesday signed LB 455, which requires that losses an employer reimburses under a deductible policy be credited against the employer's experience modification.
The bill also prohibits the Workers' Compensation Court from disclosing an injured worker's name, address, telephone number and email address for 60 days after a first injury report is filed, unless the injured worker waives confidentiality.
Claimant infor...
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed companion bills that will add Virginia to the growing list of states with specific, enforceable workplace heat standards on the books.
Spanberger on April 13 signed SB 288 and HB 1092, identical measures that direct the Safety and Health Codes Board and the Department of Labor to adopt regulations by May 1, 2028, requiring employers to implement heat illness prevention plans.
The legislation requires the board to adopt standards that include access to water and shade, rest periods, acclimatization periods and training on preventing heat illnesses. The measures ...
The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission performed the wrong legal analysis in awarding death benefits to the surviving heir of a woman who died in a car crash while delivering supplies for her employer.
Though the commission may have correctly concluded that Grace Keeton's actions were not so reckless as to disqualify her estate from receiving death benefits, the 5th District Appellate Court of Illinois said the intentional misconduct analysis was ultimately irrelevant because she was a traveling employee.
"Thus, rather than requiring proof that decedent's actions...
A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a jury’s award for a worker with mesothelioma, including an award of punitive damages, against a brewery for violating the state’s "safe-place statute."
Case: Estate of Lorbiecki v. Pabst Brewing Co., No. 2022AP723, 04/15/2026, published.
Facts: From the 1970s to the 2000s, Gerald Lorbiecki worked as a pipe fitter. He worked at many locations over the years, including a brewery owned by Pabst Brewing Co.
The brewery contained miles of asbestos-insulated pipe, and when Lorbiecki worked there, he and others would chip the insulati...
A federal appellate court ruled that a “year” of employment under the Black Lung Benefits Act occurs when a coal miner works 125 days or more in and around a coal mine during a one-year period.
Case: Baldwin v. OWCP, No. 23-1947, 03/19/2026, published.
Facts: Eddie Baldwin worked in Virginia coal mines for Island Creek Kentucky Mining from 1976 until 1991.
Procedural history: In July 2018, Baldwin filed a claim under the Black Lung Benefits Act.
A district director overseeing Baldwin’s claim issued a proposed decision and order in 2020, finding that Baldwin had been emplo...
A New York appellate court upheld an award of temporary total disability benefits to a worker paralyzed after a headfirst fall down a set of steps.
Case: In the Matter of the Claim of Mondesir v. Allied Universal, No. CV-24-1910, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Gregory Mondesir worked for Allied Universal as a security professional.
On March 20, 2022, Mondesir was walking down to a basement to change into his uniform before his shift when he slipped on wet steps and fell headfirst.
Mondesir was discovered approximately an hour later at the bottom of the stairs, unable to walk. He was ta...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his injuries from a fall from a ladder.
Case: Escudero v. Belmont Ave 2321 LLC, No. 800463/22, 03/26/2026, published.
Facts: Danilo Veliz Escudero suffered injuries in a fall from a ladder while working on a construction project at a property owned by Belmont Ave 2321 LLC.
Escudero testified that he had to use the ladder to reach the ceiling, and that the ceiling was "a little more" than 6 feet high. While Escudero was tightening a coupling on a pipe in the ceiling, ...
The Governing Committee for the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau on Wednesday voted 8-0 to recommend that the California insurance commissioner increase the advisory pure premium rate by 10.4%, effective Sept. 1.
The most notable drivers of the second consecutive double-digit rate increase include increased frequency of cumulative trauma claims as well as higher medical costs and allocated loss adjustment expenses, the WCIRB said.
According to documents posted to the WCIRB website, cumulative trauma claims accounted for about 26.4% of all indemnity claims in 2024, nearly dou...
The Assembly Insurance Committee unanimously passed a bill that would permanently allow employers and carriers to use prepaid debit cards to provide workers' compensation benefits.
The committee on Wednesday voted 17-0 to pass AB 1683, which would eliminate the Jan. 1, 2027, sunset date for the pilot program lawmakers in 2018 modeled after the program the Employment Development Department uses to pay unemployment and state disability insurance benefits.
The pilot was originally scheduled to sunset at the start of 2023, but lawmakers extended it several times to provide more time for the ...
Oklahoma lawmakers are sending the governor a bill that would allow employers to implement more restrictive policies relating to their employees' use of medical cannabis.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 41-5 to pass HB 3127, which would allow employers to designate more jobs as "safety-sensitive" positions.
Current law prohibits employers from firing medical cannabis license holders solely based on a positive drug test unless they are under the influence while at work or are in "safety-sensitive" positions, defined as jobs that include duties that the employer reas...
