Practice Pointers Under Iowa Law For Timely Payment of Benefits and Avoidance of Allegations of Entitlement of Penalties.
Under Iowa Workers’ Compensation Law an employee may be entitled to penalty benefits if there has been a delay in payment without reasonable cause or excuse by the payor. I.C.A. §86.13. However, a...
The Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds the Exclusive Remedy Doctrine of the Workers’ Compensation Act in a Case Where an Employer Willfully Violated Multiple OSHA Safety Violations, Thus Causing the Tragic Death of One of its Employees.
On May, 31, 2013, in Estate of Teague v. Crossroads Co-Op Assn, 286 Neb. 1 (2013), the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the exclusive remedy doctrine of the Workers’ Compensation Act in a case that probably...
The Iowa Court of Appeals Elaborates on the Standard for Assessing Permanent Disability in Cases of Mixed Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
In PMX Industries v. Reich, the Court of Appeals of Iowa was faced with the issue of how to assess permanent disability when a Claimant had simultaneously incurred both a scheduled member hearing loss and a separate diagnosis of tinnitus. Typically, tinnitus is...
The Court of Appeals of Iowa Appears to Increase Employers’ Liability Even in Cases of Purely Idiopathic Falls.
Recently, in AARP v. Whitacre, the Court of Appeals of Iowa found an employer liable for a workers’ compensation claim even when the parties admitted that the fall leading to the Claimant’s injury arose...
A Developing Trend in the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Courts – For an Independent Medical Examiner to be Appointed in a Case, a Dispute Between Two Doctors Must be Present.
In May of this year, the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court in Maslonka v. Falewitch Construction Services Inc. DOC: 211 NO. 0602 (2013), held that there must be a dispute between two doctors on record...
The Supreme Court of Iowa Clarified the Statute of Limitations Provisions in I.C.A. §85.26(2) in Circumstances Where an Employer’s Payment of Indemnity Benefits Cease Prior to an Arbitration Award.
In Coffey v. Mid Seven Transportation Co. 2013 WL 1922810 (Iowa 2013), the Supreme Court of Iowa determined that the statute of limitations to request further benefits runs at the later of the last...
THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA FINDS A CLAIMANT UNABLE TO REOPEN A SETTLEMENT WHEN THE CLAIMANT’S CHANGE IN CONDITION ARISES ENTIRELY FROM NON-ECONOMIC REASONS
Recently, the Court of Appeals of Iowa in Hernandez v. Osceola Foods, 2013 WL 1751006, determined that a Claimant’s change in economic condition was not sufficiently related to the Claimant’s prior work...
The Nebraska Supreme Court in Zwiener v. Becton Dickinson-East Ruled Against an Employer Who Wrongfully Believed that an Employee Waives Temporary Total Disability Benefits when the Employee Moves on from a Job that Could Have Accommodated Medical Restrictions.
Last month, in Zwiener v. Becton Dickinson-East, 285 Neb. 735 (2013), the Nebraska Supreme Court reasoned that it would undermine the beneficent purposes of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act to...
The Iowa Court of Appeals in Gallo v. Penford Products Ruled Against A Claimant Alleging Mental Injury Claims Arising out of his Accepted Physical Injury When There was Strong Evidence That Claimant’s Mental Symptoms Were Largely Personal in Nature
Recently, the Court of Appeals of Iowa noted several factors which led it to conclude that a Claimant’s mental injury claim arising out of an accepted physical injury claim was not compensable. In Gallo...
Illegal Residence or Undocumented Work Status does Not Bar Indemnity Benefits
Recently, the Nebraska Supreme Court clarified that an injured employee’s illegal residence or undocumented work status will not bar that employee from receiving a workers’ compensation award of...