Employee Misclassification Tops Enforce-ment List in 2010.  David Tonini of Holme Roberts & Owen LLP shares practice tips for avoiding an employee misclassification problem at your company. Read it

 

 

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My Thoughts on Workers' Compensation and the Impact of the Larson Treatise - An Interview With Lex K. Larson. Read it

Ignorance Is Bliss: Delaware IAB Strikes Fine Against Physician Who Did Not Know He Was Treating a Worker's Comp Patient, by Cassandra Roberts, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor. Read it  

 

Workers' Comp Fraud Blotter - Recent Arrests, Charges, Convictions, Investigations 3/25/2010. Read it

 

 

RICO Relief Denied: Are Employers at a Tipping Point for Brown v. Cassens-Type Lawsuits? by Sedgwick CMS. Read it

 

Importance of Engaging in Interactive Process - Employers must engage in the interactive process required by Calif.'s Fair Employment & Housing Act, by Goldman Magdaline & Krikes LLP. Read it

 

PPO Discounts in Louisiana Workers' Compensation Setting - The first appellate merits decision issued, by Bray Williams, Esq. Read it

 

Workers' Compensation Claims and Litigation Management, by Rebecca A. Shafer, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. Read it

 

 

Illinois Medical Fee Schedule FAQ and Guidelines 2010, by Brad Bleakney, Bleakney & Troiani. Read it

> House Passes Health Care Reconciliation Bill 

> CA: DWC Posts Proposed Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule Regulations for Public Comment 

> IL: Mitch Weisz Appointed Acting Chairman of Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

> KY: KEMI Board Members Agree to Return 20 Percent of Surplus to Policyholders. 

> MN: Work Loss Data Institute Ranks Minnesota First in Nation for Workers' Comp Performance 

> NE: First Responder Bill Advances in Legislature.

> NY: CRM Holdings Eliminates 30 Jobs Due to Declining Premiums 

> NY: NYSWCB to Publish Full Board Decisions on Its Website

> OH: House Insurance Committee Hears Testimony on BWC Oversight Council

> OK: Insurance Commissioner Seizes Control of Imperial Casualty and Indemnity Co.

> PA: Controversial Independent Contractor Bill Debated by Business Community 

> TX: TDI-DWC Approves Renewal of 9 Companies to Self-Insure for Workers' Comp.

 

Lexis.com subscribers to Larson's Workers' Compensation Law can link to the chapter discussion below. Find out more about how to become a Larson's online subscriber by contacting Caroline.Conway@lexisnexis.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A recent Iowa decision, Benco Mfg. v. Albertsen, 2009 Iowa App. LEXIS 72 (Iowa Ct. App. Feb 4, 2009), illustrates several of the issues involved in these sorts of cases. In Albertson, the employee had first walked to the employer's cafeteria to get a cappuccino and then walked toward the employer's restroom. After she opened the restroom door she fell backward, striking her head on a concrete wall screening the restroom from the work area. Acknowledging that the state did not follow the positional risk rule, the Iowa court nevertheless approved an award of benefits, finding that the the employment conditions-specifically, the concrete wall-increased the severity of the employee's idiopathic injuries. The claim was, therefore, compensable. See Ch. 9, § 9.01[2] n.14.1. 

 

Decisions in these cases are extremely fact-dependent. Thus, in a Kentucky case, Vacuum Depositing, Inc. v. Dever, 2009 Ky. LEXIS 150 (June 25, 2009), the court determined that the employee's fall was caused by her two-inch high heels and clumsiness, not by a condition of the employment.  

 

Similarly, in a Maryland case, Youngblud v. Fallston Supply Co., 180 Md. App. 389, 951 A.2d 118, writ denied, 406 Md. 114, 956 A.2d 203 (2008), the employee, an insulin-dependent diabetic, was denied workers' compensation benefits after he fell down the stairs at work. The court held that the fall was likely due to a hypoglycemic attack and was not brought about by a hazard of the employment. See Ch. 9, § 9.01[4][d] n.45.1.