29 Oct 2011
Five Recent Workers’ Comp Cases You Should Know About (10/29/2011) – No Benefits for Worker When Her Foot Slipped Off Sandal
Larson's Spotlight on Intentional Tort, Out-of-State Worker, Slip and Fall, Court-Appointed Counsel, and Workers’ Comp Fraud. Larson's surveys the latest case developments that you need to know about. Thomas A. Robinson, the staff writer for Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, has compiled the list below.
OH: Court Affirms $600,000 Judgment on Jury Verdict in Intentional Tort Case
A District Court of Appeals in Ohio recently affirmed a judgment entered by a trial court on a jury verdict of almost $600,000 in favor of a lineman who sustained electrical shock and burns while working alone with energized high-voltage power equipment and without wearing his protective safety equipment. To avoid the exclusive remedy defense, the plaintiff alleged his employer knew with a substantial certainty that he would be injured when working alone in an elevated lift machine with live high-voltage power transmission equipment and without proper safety equipment or training. He testified that his supervisor told him he need not wear his rubber gloves and protective sleeves during injury. Noting that the employer introduced no evidence at all, the court indicated the plaintiff had made an appropriate showing that his injury was substantially certain to occur.
FREE VERSION: Access the case on lexisONE free case law. Click on tab for Free Case Law. Click on the radio button for Search by Citation. Enter this citation: 2011 Ohio App. LEXIS 4433. Then click on the red button Search for Free. Note: If you haven’t registered for free at lexisONE, you will be prompted to do so in order to access the free case law.
FULLY FEATURED VERSION: Lexis.com subscribers can read the fully featured case here. See generally Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, § 103.04.
OH: Out-of-State Worker Injured During Two-Day Ohio Seminar May Recover Benefits Only in Home State
An Ohio appellate court recently held that a Colorado resident, who sustained injuries while attending a two-day seminar in Ohio, could not maintain a claim for workers' compensation benefits under Ohio law; she was only temporarily within the state. Noting that the worker was entitled to benefits for her injury in Colorado and observing that while the worker did extensive traveling, her duties were centered primarily within various western states—Colorado Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming—and not Ohio, the court indicated the appropriate test was to look to the length of time the employee was expected to be in this state at the time of the industrial injury. Two days was not substantial enough to warrant coverage.
FREE VERSION: Access the case on lexisONE free case law. Click on tab for Free Case Law. Click on the radio button for Search by Citation. Enter this citation: 2011 Ohio App. LEXIS 4446. Then click on the red button Search for Free. Note: If you haven’t registered for free at lexisONE, you will be prompted to do so in order to access the free case law.
FULLY FEATURED VERSION: Lexis.com subscribers can read the fully featured case here. See generally Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, § 142.03.
MO: No Benefits for Worker When Foot Slipped Off Her Sandal While Making Coffee for Her Co-Workers
A Missouri appellate court recently reversed a decision by the state's Industrial Relations Commission that had awarded workers' compensation benefits to an employee, who, while making coffee, slipped off her sandal, fell, and injured her pelvis. The employee testified that the office culture dictated the last person to pour a cup of coffee should make a new pot, that her injury arose out of and in the course of her employment, but the appellate court disagreed. There was no evidence that the floor had abnormalities; she wore sandals of her own accord; nothing about her employment caused the fall and injury.
FREE VERSION: Access the case on lexisONE free case law. Click on tab for Free Case Law. Click on the radio button for Search by Citation. Enter this citation: 2011 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 1412. Then click on the red button Search for Free. Note: If you haven’t registered for free at lexisONE, you will be prompted to do so in order to access the free case law.
FULLY FEATURED VERSION: Lexis.com subscribers can read the fully featured case here. See generally Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, § 46.02.
LA: Workers' Comp Claimant Not Entitled to Court-Appointed Counsel
A Louisiana appellate court recently held that an employee had no Sixth Amendment right to counsel in the civil matter—her effort to collect workers' compensation benefits—she was capable of finding and hiring an attorney on her own behalf. Moreover, her testimony about an unwitnessed job-related accident was evasive and was impeached. Because the employee failed to prove her claim for workers' compensation benefits in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 23:1031(A), the claim was properly dismissed.
FREE VERSION: Access the case on lexisONE free case law. Click on tab for Free Case Law. Click on the radio button for Search by Citation. Enter this citation: 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1241. Then click on the red button Search for Free. Note: If you haven’t registered for free at lexisONE, you will be prompted to do so in order to access the free case law.
FULLY FEATURED VERSION: Lexis.com subscribers can read the fully featured case here. See generally Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, § 133.01.
OH: Injured Worker's Undisclosed Work in Bingo Parlor Results in Disqualification From Claims
An Ohio appellate court recently affirmed an order finding that the claimant was overpaid compensation for PTD and TTD where it appeared that the injured worker concealed her employment at a private club as the Bingo chairperson while being compensated in gift cards.
FREE VERSION: Access the case on lexisONE free case law. Click on tab for Free Case Law. Click on the radio button for Search by Citation. Enter this citation: 2011 Ohio App. LEXIS 4484. Then click on the red button Search for Free. Note: If you haven’t registered for free at lexisONE, you will be prompted to do so in order to access the free case law.
FULLY FEATURED VERSION: Lexis.com subscribers can read the fully featured case here. See generally Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, § 39.03.
Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law
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