IOWA SUPREME COURT DEFINES WHAT A SHOULDER IS UNDER SECTION 85.34(2)(n).
On April 1, 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court handed down two opinions that significantly impact how shoulder injuries will be treated in Iowa for years to come. These are the much anticipated opinions in Chavez v. MS Technologies, LLC and Deng v. Farmland Foods, Inc. The...
STATUS OF LEGISLATION IMPACTING WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IN NEBRASKA
This session the Legislature’s time has been consumed by a number of significant issues, including the ARPA funding proposal, “transformative” tax relief, extensive debate on a prison reform and overcrowding, and making adjustments to its biennium budget. When not...
COVID-19 UPDATE: THE EEOC ISSUES NEW CAREGIVER DISCRIMINATION GUIDANCE
On March 14, 2022, the EEOC published new guidance applying existing federal discrimination law (ADA, Title IV, ADEA, GINA, etc.) principles involving caregivers to situations related to the pandemic. While the guidance does not have the force of law, it provides...
COVID-19: CHANGES TO THE WAY HEARINGS ARE HELD IN IOWA AND CONTINUED POSTPONEMENT OF IN-PERSON HEARINGS UNTIL OCTOBER 28, 2022
On March 11, 2022, Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Joseph Cortese extended the postponement of in-person hearings by the commission from April 30, 2022, through October 28, 2022. This is the same order that has been in effect in Iowa since March 16, 2020, but this...
IOWA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSIONER RESOLVES SPLIT OF DEPUTIES ON PROPER INDEMNITY OWED FOR PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT TO SHOULDER INJURIES
The Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner recently decided an appeal in Carmer v. Nordstrom, Inc. that resolved a split of deputy commissioners as to how to compensate an employee who sustains bilateral shoulder injuries from a single accident. Our blog post for the...
NEBRASKA COURT OF APPEALS PROVIDES FURTHER GUIDANCE ON EMPLOYEE / INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR DETERMINATION
The Nebraska Court of Appeals recently decided a case that provides guidance as to when a worker is considered an employee or an independent contractor. In Cajiao v. Arga Transport, the plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident that occurred while he was...
NEBRASKA EMPLOYER VACCINE MANDATE EXEMPTION LAW
On February 28, 2022, Governor Pete Ricketts signed LB906 into law, with an effective date of today, March 1, 2022. The new law obligates employers who require applicants or employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to allow for an exemption to the vaccination...
BAYLOR EVNEN ATTORNEYS PRESENT AT NWCEF EDUCATIONAL SEMINAR
Baylor Evnen Attorneys Dallas Jones, Paul Barta, Tom Shires and Eric Sutton, along with Nurse Paralegal Jodi Zmiewski will be presenting at the NWCEF Educational Seminar being held on Friday, February 18. The seminar covers multiple Nebraska workers’ compensation...
PARTNER TORREY GERDES WAS ISSUE EDITOR FOR THE EMPLOYMENT LAW EDITION OF THE NEBRASKA LAWYER
Baylor Evnen Partner Torrey Gerdes served as issue editor of the Nebraska State Bar Association’s (NSBA) annual employment law edition of The Nebraska Lawyer published in December 2021. This follows Torrey’s continued service as a member of the Executive Committee of...
COVID-19 UPDATE: COURT STAYS OSHA ETS AND LIFTS CMS VACCINE MANDATE INJUNCTIONS
On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay of OSHA’s ETS obligating employers with 100 or more employees to require vaccination of their employees or alternatively require testing and masking of unvaccinated workers. As such, employers are not obligated...