Smart Business Practices? Terminating An Employee Who May Have a Claim Under Nebraska’s Workers’ Compensation Act.
An employer may terminate an employee who claims they are entitled to benefits under Nebraska’s workers’ compensation laws, but the employer must have a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the...
Iowa Court of Appeals Determines that Workers’ Compensation Commissioner has the Ability to Determine Medical Causation and Relation of Injury Even in the Absence of Medical Evidence On the Issue
Recently, in Martinez Construction v. Ceballos, 2013 WL 2646833 (Ct. App. IA.), Court of Appeals of Iowa affirmed a decision of the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner determining that a claimant had...
Propriety of Requests for Iowa Workers’ Compensation Benefits When Employee is Injured Outside the State of Iowa
Iowa workers’ compensation law provides one of the strongest statutory schedule of benefits for injured workers in all of the United States. Accordingly, most claimants have a strong incentive to seek...
Helpful Tips for Employers in Preventing an Employee From Making a Successful Retaliation Claim in Nebraska
In order to minimize its exposure to successful retaliation claims, an employer should focus on timing, consistency, and documentation. Timing – the shorter the period of time between an employer’s...
Computation of Permanent Partial Disability Benefits Under Iowa Law When Impairment is to Two Scheduled Members
In Iowa, the question is often raised as to the proper method for determining permanent partial disability indemnity benefits when a claimant has permanent injuries to two scheduled members. The answer...
Important Fee Schedule Deadlines For Employers to Remember Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-125.02
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-125.02 sets forth certain deadlines employers and workers’ compensation carriers must adhere to in order to benefit from the fee schedule of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court....
Defense of Psychological Injury Claims Under Iowa Workers’ Compensation Law
For the past 20 years, Iowa Workers’ Compensation law has been interpreted to allow an employee to bring a workers’ compensation claim for purely mental injuries. By that, a claimant in Iowa has the...
The Nebraska Supreme Court Issues Surprising Ruling on an Employee’s Entitlement to Penalties and Attorney’s Fees After the Employee Signs a Release
Traditionally, settlements of workers’ compensation claims under the Nebraska’s Workers’ Compensation Act required that the Court review lump sum settlement applications and then determine whether the...
What Constitutes a “Reasonable” Redirection of Care Under Iowa Law?
Under Iowa workers’ compensation law, the employer/insurer has the right and obligation to direct reasonable medical care for accepted work injuries. Therefore, absent an abandonment of care by the...
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...