Alabama Workers' Comp Blawg

  • 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 …

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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 …

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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 …

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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 …

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  • 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 …

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  • 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.…

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  • 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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