Court Clarifies Proper Calculation of Benefits for Part-Time Student Workers

The Court of Appeals for the 8th District of Texas last week ruled that an injured university student-employee is entitled to have his weekly benefits adjusted based on the anticipated future increase in wages he would receive upon becoming a graduate student. The case was Ferrell v. University of Texas System. Bryan Ferrell attended the University of Texas at El Paso. During his senior year, Ferrell was conditionally accepted into UTEP's chemistry Ph.D. program. He was also offered a teaching assistantship. Such positions usually are offered only to masters- and doctoral-level students....