| A Note From The Editor | |
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Dear WC Professionals:
Note: Our next issue will go out Feb. 21. To sign up for this free, weekly eNewsletter, email me your full name and email address, along with your request for the National Edition.
Sincerely,
Robin E. Kobayashi, JD
LexisNexis Legal & Professional Operations
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Larson's Desk Edition (3 vols.) |  | |
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exclusivity & intentional torts | |
 Exclusivity and Intentional Torts Under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and the Extension Acts, by Monica F. Markovich and Jonathan A. Tweedy, Brown Sims, P.C., Houston, Texas. Section 905(a) limits the liability of an employer and its insurance carrier for benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act ("LHWCA," 33 U.S.C.S. § 901 et seq.) by stating that the liability of the employer "shall be exclusive and in place of all other liability of such employer to the employee" and anyone else entitled to recover damages from the employer on account of the employee's injury or death.[fn2] Extension acts such as the Defense Base Act ("DBA," 42 U.S.C.S. § 1651), the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act ("OCSLA," 43 U.S.C.S. § 1331 et seq.), and the Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act ("NAFIA," 5 U.S.C.S. § 8171) incorporate the provisions of the LHWCA. Several of these extension acts contain their own exclusivity provisions. > Read more
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Larson's spotlight: marijuana, xanax
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Injured Worker Tests Positive for Drugs, Prevails in Her Claim, by Thomas A. Robinson. A growing number of states have special statutory provisions within their workers' compensation acts that provide the employer/carrier with a rebuttable presumption that an injury was caused by intoxication or drug use if the injured worker tests positive for drugs or has a sufficient blood alcohol level in his or her system immediately following the injury. Once the presumption applies, the worker must come forward with evidence to rebut it. A Louisiana appellate court recently held that an injured restaurant employee, who broke her left wrist when she tripped over a box of potatoes in the restaurant's "prep area" and who tested positive for marijuana and Xanax at a hospital emergency room shortly thereafter, had successfully rebutted the presumption and proven that her alleged impairment was not the cause of her injury. There was no other evidence that she was under the influence of any substance. The employer's practice of putting boxes of potatoes where workers had to traverse was the real cause of the accident. > Read more about this case and other noteworthy cases |
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A national expert's year in review | |
 Thomas A. Robinson on 2011 Year in Review: Top 10 Issues in Workers' Compensation Law. In this 19-page LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis article on sale now at the LexisNexis Bookstore, workers' comp expert Thomas A. Robinson analyzes the top 10 workers' comp events for 2011 on a national level, with an eye to the hot button issues for 2012. His top 10 list covers: 1. Injuries to Telecommuters. 2. Opioid Abuse in Treatment of Injured Workers. 3. Mental Injuries Within the Work Environment. And more. > Read the abstract
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Exclusivity and Intentional Torts
Workers' Comp Fraud Blotter - Former Pro Golfer May Putt in Prison for Operating Fake Insurance Company, by LexisNexis Workers' Compensation Law Community Staff. 
Texas: Potential Enforcement Action, by Stuart Colburn, Esq. 
A Momentary Lapse? Period of Lapsed Provider Certification in Delaware Not Sufficient to Disqualify Medical Bills, by Cassandra Roberts, Esq. 
