PA - Judge Must Determine Whether to Penalize Employer's Refusal to Pay for Pot
05/21/2024 | 0
A Pennsylvania appellate court on Monday ordered a workers’ compensation judge to determine whether an employer should be penalized for failing to reimburse an injured worker for medical cannabis.
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania said the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board erred in affirming a trial judge’s finding that state and federal law shielded Maxim Healthcare Services from reimbursing Rae Ann Malak for medical cannabis. The court also said the employer never challenged the reasonableness of the prescription or whether reimbursement requests were properly s...
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The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine ruled that an employer was entitled to take the full Social Security offset against its obligation for a worker’s benefits even though it was not the only party liable for his disability.
Case: Crosen v. Blouin Motors Inc., No. 2024 ME 38, 05/16/2024, published.
Facts: Dennis G. Crosen injured his back in 1984 while working for Rockingham Electric Inc. He injured his back again in 2002 while working for Blouin Motors Inc. The two injuries left him totally disabled from work. A hearing officer determined that 40% of Crosen's incapacity w...
A Louisiana appellate court upheld the summary dismissal of a municipal employee’s suit against her employer for her injuries from a fall allegedly caused by the city’s negligence in maintaining a walkway.
Case: Favalora v. City of Kenner, No. 23-CA-368, 05/15/2024, published.
Facts and procedural history: In July 2022, Judith Favalora filed a personal injury action against the City of Kenner. Favalora alleged that she had suffered severe bodily injuries when she stepped in a hole as she was walking toward her car in a parking lot. She claimed the city had custody of the pathway&...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been allowed to amend his Labor Law action to add another claim, but it upheld the summary dismissal of the claims that were alleged in the original complaint.
Case: Verdi v. SP Irving Owner LLC, No. 2021-04374, 05/15/2024, published.
Facts: SP Irving Owner LLC owns a mixed-use, multifamily building that has retail space on the bottom floor and residential apartment units on the top floors. SP hired Bluestone Construction & Development to perform work on certain apartment units in the building.
Jonathan Verdi worked fo...
One factor that can delay a workers’ compensation claim is when a qualified medical evaluator moves offices or changes med-legal services and doesn’t tell the parties. This can and has added months to claims.
If one practices workers’ compensation law on either side of the aisle long enough, this is bound to happen to you. This article will help provide some tips and strategies to help move your claim forward when your QME has decided to throw you a change-up.
Know this link
The DWC Medical Unit’s QME database lists all the addresses available for each QME, ...
A New York appellate court reinstated a bricklayer’s Labor Law claim for alleged injuries from being struck by falling bricks.
Case: Rzepka v. City of New York, No. 2021-05088, 05/15/2024, published.
Facts: Adam Rzepka worked as a bricklayer. He suffered injuries while working on a renovation project in Queens.
While Rzepka was standing on a platform attached to the second level of the scaffold and replacing the brick facade of a school building, he was struck by several bricks that fell from the roof.
Procedural history: Rzepka filed suit against the City of New York, asserting...
ATF Medical appointed Katherine Nelson to serve as vice president of sales.
Nelson will be based in Las Vegas and oversee the company’s efforts to market mobility and accessibility services for seriously injured workers throughout the country, the company said.
She worked with workers’ compensation ancillary service providers for most of her career of more than 30 years.
Most recently, Nelson was director of national accounts for IMA Group, which provides case management and independent medical exam services.
Before that, she worked for CompAlliance and its related Com...
New York employers that knowingly fail to provide workers’ compensation coverage would be subject to stop-work orders, under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
Senate Bill 8452, by Sen. Jessica Ramos, D-Queens, would require the Workers’ Compensation Board to notify employers of its intent to issue a stop-work order within 72 hours of finding a violation. The employer would then have 72 hours to come into compliance and notify the board, or the stop-work order could be issued.
Stop-work orders would take effect when served and remain in effect until the board or the ...
The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board sanctioned an attorney and a hearing representative a combined $40,000 for requesting reconsideration to delay proceedings.
The board in an en banc decision published Thursday said eight reconsideration requests filed by hearing rep Lance Garrett and verified by attorney Susan Garrett were frivolous and that the proposed sanctions of $2,500 for each violation, $20,000 apiece total, were appropriate.
“Susan Garrett and Lance Garrett halted trial proceedings in eight cases by filing petitions for reconsideration that were indisputably without...
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will decide whether general contractors can be denied statutory employer status if they have not paid benefits to a subcontractor’s injured employee and whether the statutory employer defense is waivable.
Last year, the state Superior Court relieved McCarthy Construction Inc. of liability for a nearly $5.6 million jury verdict in favor of Jason Yoder on the basis that McCarthy was his statutory employer.
McCarthy was the general contractor for a project to repair the Norwood Public Library. It subcontracted the roofing work to Yoder’s...
The New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division upheld the denial of a caregiver’s request to amend her complaint as well as the dismissal of her claims against her alleged employers.
Case: Donnerstag v. Winchester Garden, No. A-1916-22, 05/09/2024, unpublished.
Facts: Eileen Donnerstag began working as a live-in caregiver for Brenda White in 2013. White was a resident of Winchester Garden, a senior housing community.
In July 2018, Donnerstag fell ill and lost her voice for three months. After noticing mold while working at Winchester, Donnerstag became concerned that it...
A New York appellate court ruled that a Labor Law defendant should have been granted summary judgment dismissing part of a worker’s claims for alleged injuries from a fall from a ladder.
Case: Siegel v. Delta Airlines Inc., No. 161354/15, 05/14/2024, published.
Facts and procedural history: Lawrence Siegel allegedly suffered injuries in a fall from a ladder while working on a construction project, and he filed suit against the V.R.H. Construction Corp., asserting claims for negligence and violations of the Labor Law.
V.R.H. moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against i...
A New York appellate court ruled that the defendants in a Labor Law action were entitled to only partial summary judgment in their favor.
Case: Maldonado v. Hines 1045 Avenue of the Americas Investors LLC, No. 152214/15, 05/14/2024, published.
Facts: Mario Maldonado worked as a welder. He suffered injuries while working at a construction site when he tripped over electrical conduit piping that rose from the floor in the lobby of a new building.
Procedural history: Maldonado filed suit against Hines 1045 Avenue of the Americas Investors LLC and Turner Construction Co. He asserted claims for ...
New Jersey lawmakers are considering raising fees for attorneys who represent injured workers.
The Senate last week voted 27-9 to pass bill S2822/A3986, which would increase the cap on attorney fees to 25% of the judgment from 20%.
“Attorneys for injured workers are often compensated on a contingency fee basis, and the original cap of 20% does not take into account additional duties that workers’ compensation attorneys are required to handle since the cap’s establishment,” a statement attached to the bill says.
The Assembly Labor Committee voted 9-2 to pass the bill ...
The Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division on Friday announced that it updated the form used to request a change of provider to replace the term “physician assistant” with “physician associate.”
The WCD in Bulletin No. 251 said it revised Form 2332, “Request to Change Attending Physician or Authorized Nurse Practitioner” that insurers are required to provide to workers seeking a new provider.
A bill passed earlier this year making several changes to health care laws also codified what is essentially a rebranding effort of those formerly called ph...
New York’s highest court unanimously ruled that when an employee is injured in an attack at work, his injuries are presumed to be compensable and that the lack of evidence as to the motivation for the assault does not rebut the presumption.
On June 30, 2017, Dr. Henry Bello entered the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital wearing a doctor's white medical coat, under which he hid a loaded AR-15 rifle, ammunition magazines and a juice container filled with gasoline.
Bello was a physician at the hospital until his resignation in February 2015 following an allegation that he had ...