Law Commons^™

Due Process And The Independent Medical Examiner System In The Maine Workers' Compensation Act, Sean T. Carnathan

Maine Law Review

Workers' compensation became front page news during the summer of 1991, when Maine's governor refused to sign the state's budget unless the Legislature reformed the system. Although the vehemence of the governor's demands stunned both the public and the Legislature, the dire state of workers' compensation was well known to those involved. In fact, the Legislature has debated reforming the system nearly every year, and sixteen significant changes have been made since the program's inception in 1915. In 1991, the Legislature focused on cutting costs. The system requires two types of highly paid professionals—doctors and lawyers. Therefore, an obvious way …

Roy V. Bath Iron Works: Three Different Perspectives On An Unfortunate Situation, Erik Black

Maine Law Review

Joseph Roy was an employee of Bath Iron Works (BIW) who suffered work-related injuries to his lower back in 1987 and to his neck in 1994 In 2005, Roy filed a petition for review of his workers' compensation benefits and sought, among other benefits, total incapacity benefits because his neck injury had worsened. A hearing officer from the Workers' Compensation Board found that Roy's work-related injuries had totally incapacitated him, but denied Roy total incapacity benefits after March 6, 2006, because a non-work-related liver condition had also caused him to become totally incapacitated. Roy appealed the decision to the Maine …

The New Workers' Compensatin Law In Ohio: Senate Bill 307 Was No Accident, Scott Washam

Akron Law Review

In Part I, this comment traces the evolution of workers' compensation laws in this country with particular emphasis on the development of the Act in Ohio. In Part II, the relevant caselaw is discussed, including Blankenship v. Cincinnati Milacron Chemicals, Jones v. VIP Development Company, and their progeny which led to the enactment of Senate Bill 307. In Part III, Bill 30710 is considered along with its implications for the injured worker.

Land Ho! Two Words An Injured Longshore Or Harbor Worker Never Wants To Hear, Adam Hare

Catholic University Law Review

In 1927, the United States Congress passed the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) to provide workers’ compensation coverage to maritime workers injured outside the purview of state workers’ compensation laws. Rigid judicial interpretation of the original Act, however, led to inequitable outcomes in the maritime industry. Workers neither on land nor on the water when injured could not claim workers’ compensation benefits under state or federal laws. The 1972 amendments to the LHWCA sought to cure this inequity. The amended Act included a situs requirement. This Comment analyzes the most important judicial interpretations of the situs requirement of …

Equitable Estoppel & Workers' Compensation Immunity: Why Litigants And The Courts Are Getting Ahead Of Themselves, Neil A. Ambekar

Florida A & M University Law Review

Every U.S. jurisdiction has created a separate body of law to address workplace injuries - the workers’ compensation scheme. These no-fault systems provide employees injured on the job lost wages and medical benefits. It also immunizes employers from negligence claims arising out of most workplace accidents. This article discusses a growing phenomenon in Florida’s workers’ compensation scheme, the use of estoppel to negate employer immunity. This article lays out the various theories of estoppel—primarily judicial and equitable—that may be asserted in the context of on-thejob injury litigation. This article goes on to explain why Florida courts should refrain from application …

Benefit Adequacy In State And Provincial Workers' Compensation Programs, H. Allan Hunt, Marcus O. Dillender

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Master Or Chancellor? The Workers' Compensation Judge And Adjudicatory Power, David B. Torrey

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Workmen's Compensation, Jack E. Goshkin

Cal Law Trends and Developments

The reviewing Courts in 1969, enjoyed an open season in reviewing Workmen's Compensation Appeals Board factual determinations, much in the manner reported in last year's article. The comments made by the legislature (and some members of the State Supreme Court) on the courts' hunting without a license have been to no avail.

The legislature, for all practical purposes, was inactive in the field of workmen's compensation. There were important developments in case law, but some of the cases that may well work important changes in the field of workmen's compensation law are presently in various stages of appeal.

Total Permanent Disability In Washington, H. Allan Hunt

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Opening The Door: Recognizing The Many Hats Of Jockeys For Workers' Compensation Coverage, Erin N. Malony

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Hiv As An Occupational Disease: Expanding Traditional Workers' Compensation Coverage, Nikita Williams

Vanderbilt Law Review

Since the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ("AIDS") was first identified in 1981, this disease has had far-reaching social and economic consequences across the country. One of the most profound effects of the AIDS epidemic can be seen in the public health care system. While infection control measures have long been in place to reduce transmission of the disease in the health care setting, in the years following the initial discovery of AIDS, health care workers ("HCWs") were particularly concerned about the possibility of contracting the lethal disease from their patients. Furthermore, although the risk of transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus …

Earnings Losses For Injured Workers, H. Allan Hunt, Kelly Derango, Eva Madly

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Ohio Bureau Of Workers' Compensation: An Analysis Of The Status Quo And A Proposal For Improvement (A Medical Perspective), William H. Seitz Jr.

Journal of Law and Health

A worker's compensation claim is frequently a nightmare for the patient (injured worker), the employer (insurance payor), and the physician (health care provider). Because of the wastefulness inherent in the system, the overall cost of providing workers' compensation care in the State of Ohio has increased dramatically and as a result has seen significant reductions in hospital reimbursement levels and patient benefits, such as prescription drug availability. This article provides two clinical examples to highlight the problems with the worker's compensation system in Ohio. The first case example demonstrates what happens when the patient's initial diagnosis upon entering the system …

Performance Management In Workers' Compensation Systems, H. Allan Hunt

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Are Private Automobile Insurance Companies Replacing Workers’ Compensation Coverage When The Employee/Insured Is Injured In The Course And Scope Of Employment By A Third-Party Tortfeasor?: Rubin V. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Micah Echols

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Multiple sources for recovery are available for an employee who is physically injured by a third-party tortfeasor in the course and scope of employment. This is especially true when the physical injury triggers coverage under a health insurance policy or other type of insurance policy for medical benefits. First, assuming that the employer participates in workers’ compensation insurance, the employee is entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits for medical expenses. Second, the employee can also recover payments for medical benefits from the third-party tortfeasor in a common-law negligence lawsuit. Third, the employee, who in this context would be considered …

Why The Ohio Bureau Of Workers' Compensation Must Refund Fifty Million Dollars In Subrogation Payments: A Detailed Look Into The State Of Subrogation In Ohio After Holeton V. Crouse Cartage Company, Anthony Alan Baucco

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note begins by examining the complex history behind workers' compensation subrogation rights in the state of Ohio. This historical timeline flows from the period when statutory subrogation was non-existent in Ohio, to the first version of a subrogation statute in 1993, and finally to the broadened and revised statute in 1995. A detailed examination of the Supreme Court of Ohio's decision in Holeton v. Crouse Cartage Company follows the historical overview and focuses on the unconstitutionality of Ohio Revised Code section 4123.931. Additionally, the popular competing views gleaned from both the dissent in Holeton and the Bureau of Workers' …

Is Compensation For Workplace Injuries Adequate?, H. Allan Hunt

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Workers' Compensation Under Alternative Insurance Arrangements, Terry Thomason, Timothy P. Schmidle, John F. Burton

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Three Systems Of Workers' Compensation, H. Allan Hunt

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Employer Liability Under The Third Party Provision Of The Washington Industrial Insurance Act: The Dual Capacity And Dual Persona Doctrines In Evans V. Thompson, Melissa M. Jackson

Seattle University Law Review

Most workers' compensation schemes are designed to provide a swift and sure source of benefits to injured workers by placing on employers the risks and burdens of modern industry. In keeping with this policy, Washington's Industrial Insurance Act2 (IIA) requires injured workers to relinquish the right to sue at common law for damages sustained on the job, and it requires employers to accept liability for a measure of damages set out by the statute. However, if a worker's injuries are caused by the negligence of a third person who is not in the worker's same employ, the IIA's third-party provision …

New Hope For Workers' Compensation Programs, H. Allan Hunt, Rochelle Virginia Habeck

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Curing Washington's Occupational Disease Statute: Dennis V. Departmentof Labor And Industries, Lance Palmer

Seattle University Law Review

This Note focuses on the current state of occupational disease coverage under the workers' compensation system in Washington, and will review the legislative history, the administrative interpretation, and the judicial development of the occupational disease law. Further, after setting forth the broad policy goals behind the Industrial Insurance Act and outlining Washington's occupational disease statute, this Note will conclude with a discussion of the supreme court's analytical framework for a fair, workable, and uniform method for adjudicating occupational disease claims in Washington.

An Analysis Of The Legal, Social, And Political Issues Raised By Asbestos Litigation, John P. Burns, G. Edward Cassady, Iii, Kenneth B. Cole, Jr., Timothy R. Dodson, Philip E. Holladay, Jr., Paul C. Ney, Jr., Drew T. Parobek, Kimberly Payne, D. Blaine Sanders, L. D. Simmons, Ii, Charles D. Maguire, Jr. Special Project Editor, Laurin Blumenthal Associate Special Project Editor

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Special Project examines the most important issues of the asbestos problem and advocates a congressional solution (1) to relieve the courts of the thousands of present and potential asbestos cases, (2) to protect future claimants' rights to adequate compensation, and (3) to provide for equitable participation by all responsible parties, which, in addition to asbestos manufacturers,include the federal government, insurance companies, and the tobacco industry. The first six parts of the Special Project examine the various issues of asbestos litigation: theories of liability in products liability suits against asbestos manufacturers, causation,defenses, statutory limitations on actions, collateral estoppel, and punitive …

The Causation Issue In Workers'compensation Mental Disability Cases: An Analysis, Solutions, And A Perspective, Lawrence Joseph

Vanderbilt Law Review

Cases under workers' compensation systems that concern mental disabilities present special problems in the determination of causation. In this Article Mr. Joseph argues that the complexities inherent in a decision whether a mental disability has arisen out of employment force administrative agencies and courts in these cases to engage in normative evaluative inquiries. These inquiries, according to Mr. Joseph, result in findings that potentially frustrate the underlying compromise policy of workers' compensation systems; these evaluative decisions create classes of claimants that may be under or over inclusive. Mr. Joseph describes several possible solutions to this problem and concludes by reviewing …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Act of State Doctrine does not Preclude Inquiry by United States Court into Alleged Repudiation by a Foreign Government of its Obligation Arising from a Purely Commercial Transaction

Admiralty Jurisdiction Extends inland to Automobile Accident Caused by the Negligence of Ship's Crew

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Incorporates the Long-Shoremen's and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act, and includes Provisions Depriving Claims by Outer Continental Shelf Employees Injured on the Job against Vessel Ownerbased upon Breach of Warranty of Seaworthiness

University's Restrictive Definition of Domicile, which Precludes Nonimmigrant Aliens from Attaining "In-State" Status for Tuition Purposes, Does not Violate Due Process

Order …

Mental And Nervous Injury In Workmen's Compensation, Arthur Larson

Vanderbilt Law Review

"[H]ow could it be real when. . .it was purely mental?" This poignant judicial cry out of the past, which I occasionally quote to put down my psychiatrist friends, contains the clue to almost all of the trouble that has attended the development of workmen's compensation law related to mental and nervous injuries. This equation of "mental" with "unreal," or imaginary, or phoney, is so ingrained that it has achieved a firm place in our idiomatic language. Who has not at some time, in dismissing a physical complaint of some suffering friend or relative, airily waved the complaint aside by …