A New York appellate court upheld a determination that an elderly worker with cancer demonstrated extreme hardship that warranted reclassification.
Linda Epstein worked as a meat wrapper at Waldbaums for 44 years. She suffered an on-the-job injury in 2011.
In 2014, Epstein was classified with a permanent partial disability and found to have sustained an 81% loss of wage-earning capacity.
Before the exhaustion of her indemnity… Read more »
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an Amazon employee was entitled only to temporary partial disability benefits after an injury because he remained able to work.
Case: Amazon.com Services LLC v. Carlson, No. 381 C.D. 2024, 05/07/2025, unpublished.
Facts: Timothy Carlson worked for Amazon.com Services LLC as a fulfillment center… Read more »
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a grant of summary judgment dismissing the negligence claim by a worker who fell into a vat of molten lead against the company that had hired his employer to perform maintenance work.
Case: Johnson v. Exide Technologies Inc., No. 23-3528, 05/08/2025, published.
Facts: Trenton Johnson worked for Concorp… Read more »
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding that a deputy sheriff’s cervical stenosis was unrelated to his work injury.
Case: Price v. Raleigh County Commission, No. 24-ICA-411, 04/29/2025, published.
Facts: Matthew Price worked for Raleigh County as a deputy sheriff. He injured his left shoulder at work while trying to force open a door in March 2023.
On the day of his… Read more »
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments in a case that seeks to clarify the appropriate standards for the aggravation of preexisting conditions.
The high court will hear oral arguments in Jo Carol Edwards v. Peoplease, a direct appeal of a workers’ compensation case stemming from a 2020 injury.
Edwards suffered… Read more »
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that a commercial bakery in New Jersey agreed to pay $180,000 in penalties to resolve litigation over failure to abate hazards cited during an inspection.
OSHA said it investigated Valenti’s Bakery in Paterson in June 2023 after an employee partially amputated a finger. The… Read more »
The Workers Compensation Research Institute reports that total costs per claim in Minnesota increased about 10% annually from 2021 to 2023.
WCRI said rising wages, longer duration of temporary disability and increased medical payments per claim were the main drivers of the recent cost growth following stability during the first two… Read more »
Oklahoma lawmakers sent the governor a bill that would increase the cap on permanent partial disability benefits by a little more than 4% and allow general contractors to provide comp coverage to subcontractors.
Senate Bill 642 would increase the maximum PPD benefit to $375 from $360 on July 1.
The bill would also allow a general… Read more »
A recent article in WorkCompCentral, titled “Comp Is a Cash Cow, but Insurers Want Higher Rates,” suggests that California's workers' compensation system is thriving and that insurers are unjustly seeking rate increases.
However, a closer examination reveals a… Read more »