Court Rejects Worker's Claim that Employer Denied Her Comp Claim in Bad Faith

The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that an employer had an objectively reasonable basis for disputing a worker's claim for benefits based on a workplace fall and that the worker's bad-faith claim therefore failed as a matter of law. Case: Saltern v. HNI Corp., No. 13-1193, 08/13/2014, published. Facts: In March 2009, Karen Saltern, an HNI Corp. employee, tripped and fell while in a designated outdoor break area on HNI’s premises. Saltern then filed a petition for workers’ compensation benefits. In her petition, Saltern stated that she slipped on ice and fell. Cynthia Hampt...