- 30
- Oct
- 2013
Australian High Court Holds Sex Injury During Business Trip Not to be Compensable
Now that I have your attention, let me elaborate. An Australian federal employee was on a business trip when she met up with a man and had sex with him in her hotel room. While …
Read More- 28
- Sep
- 2013
Alabama Supreme Court Says Post-Accident Investigation Reports are not Always Protected as Work Product
On September 27, 2013, the Alabama Supreme Court released its opinion in Ex parte Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. wherein it addressed the discoverability of post-accident invest…
Read More- 25
- Sep
- 2013
Alabama Court of Appeals Rules that Employer is not Entitled to Credit for Wages Paid to Injured Employee
On September 20, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in the case of Malone v. Steelcase, Inc., dealing with the applicability of § 25-5-57(c)(3) of The A…
Read More- 12
- Sep
- 2013
Alabama Court of Civil Appeals Reverses Permanent and Total Award
On September 9, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in SouthernCare, Inc v. Margaret Cowart wherein it reaffirmed that a mere possibility does not establ…
Read More- 16
- Aug
- 2013
Alabama Court of Civil Appeals Reverses in Round Three of Scheduled Injury Case
On August 16, 2013, The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in the matter of DuBose Construction Company, LLC v. James Simmon. This was the third time this case h…
Read More- 13
- Aug
- 2013
Alabama Tort Claims Involving Workplace Conditions Are Precluded by the Exclusivity Doctrine
On August 9, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its decision in Devero v. North American Bus Industries, in which it upheld summary judgment in favor of North Ameri…
Read More- 31
- Jul
- 2013
Portions of Post-Offer Medical Examinations May Violate Federal Law
The EEOC filed lawsuits this past May, claiming that employers had violated the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when…
Read More- 30
- Jul
- 2013
Alabama Court Persuaded by Employee's Testimony Instead of Medical Evidence
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals recently affirmed a trial court’s determination of disability which was based on the employee’s subjective complaints of pain and her appearance…
Read More- 26
- Jul
- 2013
Alabama Courts Consider Twilight Zone of Concurrent Jurisdiction
The Supreme Court of Alabama recently addressed preemption of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act by the Federal Longshore and Harbors Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) in Ferna…
Read More- 22
- Jul
- 2013
Alabama Judges can Assign Disability Ratings that are Lower than the Impairment Rating Assigned by the Doctor
On July 19, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in Gore v. Lafarge North America, Inc. wherein it addressed the trial judge’s ability to assign a disabil…
Read More- 22
- Jul
- 2013
Alabama Workers Compensation Rate Change Effective July 1, 2013
For claims occurring on or after July 1, 2013, the maximum workers’ compensation rate is $788 per week and the minimum is $217 per week. This change is based on the Commissioner …
Read More- 08
- Jul
- 2013
Alabama Supreme Court Reverses Court of Civil Appeals' Decision in Retaliatory Discharge Case
On June 28, 2013, the Supreme Court of Alabama released its opinion in the case of Ex parte Stanford D. Isbell, wherein it reversed the the Court of Civil Appeals which overturned…
Read More- 28
- Jun
- 2013
Alabama Court Holds Employer Provided UM Benefits Subject to Subrogation
On June 21, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its decision in the case of Samuel Roblero v. Cox Pools of the Southeast, Inc. In that case, the Court of Appeals up…
Read More- 28
- May
- 2013
Alabama Court of Civil Appeals Considers Last Injurious Exposure Rule
Office Max, Inc. v. Academy, Ltd. - Released May 17, 2013 This case stems from a workers’ compensation case involving an employee of Office Max. The employee claimed that in 2002 …
Read More- 15
- May
- 2013
Bipartisan Medicare Legislation Introduced to the House of Representatives
Reps. Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced the Medicare Secondary Payer and Workers’ Compensation Settlement Agreement Act (H.R. 1982) into the House of Repres…
Read More- 21
- Apr
- 2013
Alabama Court of Civil Appeals Addresses Several Issues in Affirming Permanent and Total Award
On April 19, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in McAbee Construction, Inc. v. Elvin Allday. At trial, the employee presented evidence that he had wor…
Read More- 11
- Mar
- 2013
Unexplained Falls are not Compensable in Alabama
On March 1, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in Ex Parte Russell Threadgill wherein it denied in part and granted in part the employee’s petition for …
Read More- 20
- Feb
- 2013
Alabama's Judicial Estoppel Defense in Workers' Compensation Matters... Use it or Lose it!
On February 15, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in CVS/Caremark Corp. v. Gloria Washington wherein it addressed the affirmative defense of judicial …
Read More- 19
- Feb
- 2013
Alabama Judge Addresses Link Between Manual Labor and Cumulative Trauma Injuries
On February 8, 2013, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in Ex Parte Johns & Kirksey, Inc. wherein it denied an employer’s petition for a writ of mandamus.…
Read More- 18
- Jan
- 2013
SMART Act Improves Medicare Conditional Payment System
On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed the SMART Act (the Strengthening Medicare and Re-Paying Tax Payers Act) into law. The Act reforms certain aspects of Medicare’s requi…
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