LexisNexis Workers' Compensation eNewsletter

Vol 1, Issue 11

Find Solutions & Strategies June 7, 2010

The Undocumented Longshore Claimant

Illegal status of the injured worker does not affect his entitlement to benefits

In This Issue

-FEATURED ARTICLE: undocumented worker

-LARSON'S SPOTLIGHT: medical care, concurrent employment, illegal alien, slip and fall, parking lot

-BLOG ROUND UP: fraud, int'l news, medical access, longshore seminar

-NATIONAL NEWS

-STATE NEWS

-WHAT'S NEW IN LARSON'S: same-sex marriages

-LARSON 50% OFF SALE

-eNEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

A Note From the Editor

Dear WC Professionals:

Due to popular demand, we've added a new feature to our eNewsletter: Archived links to past issues. Scroll to the end of this issue to access the links.

Sincerely,
Robin E. Kobayashi, J.D.

LexisNexis Editorial & Content Development

robin.e.kobayashi@lexisnexis.com

Workers' Comp Profile

Robert J. Grace, Jr. is a Shareholder and the Vice President of Stiles, Taylor & Grace, P.A., concentrating on civil trial practice, workers' compensation and general insurance defense. He was a committee member of the Florida Bar Clients' Security Fund from 1997 to 2003, serving as Vice-Chairman during 2002-03. He is also a member of the Trial Lawyers and Workers' Comp Sections of Florida Bar, the Florida Defense Lawyers' Assoc., the Defense Research Institute, the Hillsborough County Bar Assoc. and the American Bar Assoc. He is "AV" Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and recognized by Florida Trend Magazine as part of Florida's Legal Elite. He also serves as an editorial consultant for Dubreuil's Florida Workers' Compensation Handbook.

Web Poll Final Results

As a workers' comp professional, do you use social media sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) to help you with your work?

Never - 11%
Rarely - 22%
Sometimes - 56%
Frequently - 11%

Vote at the LexisNexis Workers' Comp Law Community

FEATURED ARTICLE: undocumented worker

The Undocumented Longshore Claimant: Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., et al. v. Rodriguez. Stephen M. Vaughan, Tucker, Vaughan, Gardner & Barnes, P.C., Houston, TX, examines the recent mportant holding by the Fifth Circuit. Read it.

Larson's spotlight: 5 recent cases you should know about

Tom Robinson thumbnail Larson's Spotlight reports noteworthy workers' comp cases each week. This list was compiled by Thomas A. Robinson, a staff writer for Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, the nation's leading authority on workers' compensation law.

> Read the case summaries and court decisions.

#1 FL: Medical Care Does Not Include Lawn Care Services

#2 CT: Employment at U.S. Post Office Is Not "Concurrent" Employment for Purposes of Computing Average Weekly Wag

#3 FL: Judge Rejects Average Weekly Wage Computation for Illegal Alien in Spite of Employer's Stipulation as to Amount

#4 OH: Worker Retrieving Paycheck Awarded Benefits for Fall During Non-Work Hours

#5 PA: Worker Injured in Parking Lot While Leaving For Lunch Break Is Entitled to Award

blog round up

Fraud Sign Workers' Comp Fraud Blotter - Recent Arrests, Charges, Convictions, Investi-gations 6/3/2010. Read it.

The International Scene: Sacked Through Facebook, Death by iPad, Facial Injuries, ER Violence. Read it.

Access, Quality and Outcomes of Health Care in the Calif. Workers' Compensation System, by California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery. Read it.

2010 Annual Longshore Conference, by Ralph R. Lorberbaum, Zipperer, Lorberbaum & Beauvais. Read it.

national news

> Sedgwick CMS Transaction Completed by Stone Point Capital and Hellman & Friedman
> Sedgwick CMS Names Jason Hood Chief Legal Officer
> EEOICPA Adds Nuclear Workers From CA, NJ Plants to Special Cohort Designation

state NEWS

> CA: DWC Adjusts DMEPOS Section of Official Medical Fee Schedule
> CA: Calif. Workers' Comp Premium Volume Declines for Fifth Year in a Row
> CA: Workers' Comp Insurer Had No Duty to Notify Bank That Issued Check Was Genuine
> CA: Assembly Passes Public Safety Cancer Presumption Bill
> FL: CFO Sink Statement on Governor Crist's Veto of HB 5603
> FL: Lawsuit Filed Against Publix Over Fatal Shooting of Employee by Co-Worker

> FL: DWC Holds Free Seminar on Tuesday for Pensacola Businesses

> IN: Liberty Mutual Sues Baseball Owner for Outstanding Workers' Comp Premiums
> LA: LWCC Promotes Lloyd Colvin to Occupational Medicine Manager
> LA: Governor Signs Bill on Mediations in Workers' Comp Claims
> LA: Former International Paper Employees Sue for Alleged Hearing Loss
> LA: Governor Signs Legislation on Electronic Medical Billing
> MI: Lawmaker Seeks Workers' Comp Coverage for Volunteer Health Practitioners

> MD: MOSH Issues Record Penalty of $1M Against Poultry Processor for Safety Violations
> MI: Gov. Makes Appointment to Board Of Magistrates
> MN: Wells Fargo Considering Options After Investment Fraud Trial

> MT: Montana State Fund Moves Into New "Green" Digs

> NC: Bill Would Change Negligence Standard to Comparative Fault
> NY: Insurance Dept. to Hold Public Hearing on Proposed Workers' Comp Insurance Loss Cost Increase
> NY: Senate Passes Historic Bill to Protect Domestic Workers
> NY: $12.5M Verdict for Construction Worker Injured in 2006 New York Accident
> OH: BWC Board of Directors Finalize Upcoming Rate Reduction
> OH: Alison L. Falls Reappointed to BWC Board of Directors

> OH: House Votes to Kill Funding for Workers' Comp Council
> OR: WCD Publishes New Attorney Fee Matrix
> OR: WCD Posts Revised Cost-of-Living Matrix, Vocational Assistance Fee Schedule

> RI: Senate Passes Bill to Close Loopholes on Employee Classification Laws
> TN: Senate Approves Bill to Exempt Parts of Construction Industry From Workers' Comp

> TN: New Volkswagen Plant Employees Required to Do Physical Workouts
> TX: Texas Supreme Court Denies Review of Stop-Loss Case

> WY: Task Force to Recommend Occupational Epidemiologist Soon

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what's new in larson's workers' compensation law

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.

Statutory Categories of Relationship--Same-Sex Marriages and Domestic Partners. Chapter 96, which provides an important introductory framework for the Treatise's overall discussion of Dependency and Death Benefits, has been updated and revised. As pointed out in the chapter, two factors are at the core of almost all dependency questions: claimant's compliance with statutory requirements of relationship to the deceased, and dependency in fact.

Under most statutes, a widow (or widower) and young children living with the deceased need prove only this relationship, but if not living with the deceased must prove dependency in fact. Other eligible claimants must usually prove actual dependency. Definitions of "family" are changing, of course, and these changes are being reflected more and more even in so-called "traditional" areas of law such as workers' compensation.

For example, the California Supreme Court recently held that provisions of the state's Family Code [Cal. Fam. Code §§ 300 and 308.5] that draw a distinction between opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples are unconstitutional to the extent that they exclude the latter from access to the designation of marriage. The ruling should make it easier for some same-sex partners to claim and recover workers' compensation benefits. Under former law, a same-sex partner earning less than $30,000 a year had to prove dependency. Now dependency for such partners will be conclusively presumed. See Ch. 96, § 96.02[6].

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