An employee injures her knee just by walking up stairs at work and applies for workers’ comp benefits.
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Tags: accident, knee injury, walking up stairs, work-related injury, Workers' comp
When no one witnesses a workplace injury and the injured employee files for workers’ comp, sometimes all you have to go on is the worker’s story. The situation can become more complicated when the worker delays reporting the injury.
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Tags: back injury, credibility, no one saw injury, Workers' comp
Even though workers’ compensation is supposed to be the exclusive remedy for workplace injuries and death, lawyers will find a way to make someone pay even more, especially in the case of a fatality.
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Tags: gross negligence, hot oil heater, National Fire Protection Association, Workers' comp, workplace death lawsuit
How much do you think federal government employees collected in workers’ comp payments in fiscal year 2009? A. $5.2 million? B. $40.3 million? C. $145 million? D. $1.6 billion.
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Tags: federal government employees, reduce costs, Workers' comp
A worker slipped and fell, and sustained multiple injuries including one to her back. While the worker was still healing, she lost her job in a mass layoff. Does she still get comp payments?
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Tags: back injury, laid off, temporary partial disability, Workers' comp
An employee who suffered from an eye disease had a corneal transplant that improved his vision from 20/200 to 20/50. Then, a workplace incident damaged the transplant, and his vision returned to 20/200.
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Where’s the best place to find a workers’ comp cheat? You might want to check out all the strip clubs in your area.
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Tags: Workers' comp
For most employees, turning around isn’t dangerous. But for a nurse in Mississippi, that simple act resulted in a broken leg, a protracted court battle, and ultimately, a sizable workers’ comp award.
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Tags: injury, Workers' comp
How far should the “exclusive remedy” provision of workers’ comp go?
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Tags: court, criminal charges, Workers' comp
A worker at a bear park smoked pot before coming to work where he fed grizzlies. The worker was seriously injured by one of the bears. A workers’ compensation judge called that “mind-bogglingly stupid.” But did the judge rule the worker was entitled to workers’ comp?
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Tags: marijuana, mauled by grizzly, pot smoking, Workers' comp
What types of workplace noise do you think of in connection with occupational hearing loss? Jack hammers, lawn tractors, manufacturing assembly lines? In this case, a worker claims hearing loss from being yelled at on the phone by angry customers.
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As more and more companies use independent contractors to do work formerly handled by employees, these questions come up more often: Employee or contractor? Eligible for workers’ comp or not?
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Tags: contractor or employee, taxi cab drivers, Workers' comp
An employee was injured at work. At first his injury seemed minor. But as time passed, his condition grew more serious. He didn’t tell his employer about the incident until he needed to see a medical specialist.
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Tags: open wound, report injuries, Workers' comp
Remember the story from about a year ago in which a chimp tore off the face and hands of a woman? The police officer who shot and killed the raging animal was denied workers’ comp benefits.
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Tags: chimp attack, police officer, Workers' comp
If doctors declare an injured worker totally disabled, what happens if he looks for work while he’s waiting to see if he gets workers’ comp benefits?
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A home health aide was involved in a highway crash on the way to a patient’s home. Would workers’ comp cover her injuries?
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A migrant worker fractured his ankle on a sidewalk outside of employer-provided housing. Does he get workers’ comp benefits for his injury?
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A doctor cleared an injured worker for a specific light-duty job. The worker didn’t think she could do the offered job and didn’t show up for work. Did a court allow her to continue to receive workers’ comp benefits?
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Tags: back strain, light-duty job, Workers' comp
Imagine this: A worker has surgery to insert metal plates and screws to repair damaged discs in his neck. He says his injury happened at work … when he sneezed.
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Tags: neck injury, sneeze, surgery, Workers' comp
Workers’ comp laws usually prohibit lawsuits against companies when a worker is seriously injured or killed on the job. But a lawyer in Texas found a way to skirt the law and win a huge jury award.
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Tags: crane, jury award, worker killed, Workers' comp
An employee used a company vehicle, which he was allowed to drive, to get coffee and suffered a serious accident. He applied for workers’ comp benefits. Did he receive them?
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Tags: company vehicle, personal comfort doctrine, Workers' comp
A worker tests positive for PCP right after he’s injured. Is he still able to collect workers’ comp benefits?
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Tags: drug use, injured worker, lifting injury, Workers' comp
Workers’ comp laws in some states do contain provisions to discourage employees from trying to cheat the system. Here’s one example:
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Tags: cheat the system, New York, Workers' comp
Sickening perfume, bowling injuries, texting while driving and snack machines that cause injuries. These are just some of the topics in our Safety News Alert Top 10 stories of 2009, determined by what readers clicked on the most.
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Tags: texting while driving, top 10, Workers' comp
California’s Supreme Court has refused to reconsider a decision granting workers’ comp benefits to an employee after she was injured while shopping for a work-related potluck.
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Tags: injured in the course of work, teamwork, Workers' comp
Imagine this: One of your employees complains that a customer’s perfume made her so sick that she needs permanent and total disability benefits. We’re not making this up: It actually happened.
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Tags: asthma, perfume, permanent and total disability, preexisting condition, Workers' comp
Ever face an appeal in a workers’ comp case? Then you know it can take a long time. But here’s a case that’s been in the courts for 27 years, and it isn’t over yet. And the injury was to the worker’s little toe.
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An employee is injured while playing volleyball. He files for workers’ comp, saying it was part of his job. His employer disagrees, saying it wasn’t part of his tasks. Does the employee in this case get comp?
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Tags: recreational activity, volleyball injury, Workers' comp
Imagine this. A machine in your workplace has a sharp blade that chops things. Do you really have to tell employees not to stick their hands near the blade when the machine is running?
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Tags: common sense, machine guard, warning sign, Workers' comp
Most companies have all the work-related hazards they need, thank you. They see no need to introduce additional hazards not normally associated with whatever work is involved. But one company’s unusual gimmick has set the stage for what promises to be an interesting workers’ comp decision.
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Tags: chimp attack, hazards, Workers' comp
If one of your employees was injured in an exercise class, you wouldn’t expect that to be covered by workers’ comp. But that’s not how one court saw it.
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Tags: employee injured at gym, exercise class, Workers' comp
Good news for employers in one state: Your workers’ comp insurance rates are going down. But that’s not all the information released. A new report also details who files for comp more often and why.
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Workers’ comp boards and courts draw a fine line between what is and what isn’t a work-related injury that qualifies for benefits. See if you can guess how the court ruled in this case:
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Tags: climbing into truck, ruptured tendon, shipping yard, tractor trailer, Workers' comp
A man has been sent to prison after using money he received for a workplace accident to deal crack cocaine.
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Imagine this: An employee, who happens to be morbidly obese, is injured at work. Doctors say, before he has surgery to correct the workplace injury, he needs weight-loss surgery.
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Tags: lap-band surgery, morbid obesity, weight-loss surgery, Workers' comp, workplace injury
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