NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.
On August 16, 2024, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released its opinion in Victoryland v. Patricia Dianne Arnold wherein it addressed the Successive Compensable Injury Test. Specifically, it affirmed the trial Court’s judgment that a subsequent motor vehicle accident that exacerbated the Employee’s compensable low back injury did not qualify as the type of intervening event that would relieve the Employer from its responsibility to provide medical benefits.
The trial Court considered the Employer’s motion for relief from future responsibility based on an MVA that occurred approximately 9 years after the Court approved a workers’ compensation settlement concerning the low back which left medical benefits open. It also considered evidence that the Employee was deciding whether to proceed with a third low back surgery at the time she was involved in the MVA. The Employee testified that the accident resulted in exacerbated low back pain that radiated down into both legs.
The Employee took a position in the MVA lawsuit that her low back condition was exacerbated as a result of that accident. In the Workers’ Compensation matter, the Employee took the position that, despite the exacerbation, her Employer should remain on the hook for medical benefits. The trial Court denied the Employer’s motion for relief and so it appealed the decision.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals did not agree with the Employer’s position that the Employee was judicially estopped from taking inconsistent positions in the workers’ compensation case and the MVA case. Specifically, it was the Employer’s position that since the Employee alleged a permanent exacerbation of her low back as a result of the MVA in one proceeding that she could not also assert that an intervening event that severed the chain of causation had not taken place in another proceeding. The Court disagreed with the Employer’s position by stating that the positions, while inconsistent, were not so inconsistent as to warrant applying the Doctrine of Judicial Estoppel.
The Court also considered the Employer’s position that an MVA is not the type of routine event or “customary activity” that would allow the Employee to connect her current need for medical benefits to the original workers’ compensation claim under the Successive Compensable Injury Test (a test which states generally that employer is not relieved of responsibility when it is established that the later injury is the direct and natural result of the compensable work injury).
The Court noted that an MVA is an unusual traumatic event and pointed out that case law cited in the briefs did not address whether such events should be treated as intervening causes. The Court expanded its research beyond the cases cited by the parties to consider a case specifically involving an MVA wherein the Plaintiff filed a petition seeking an order compelling medical treatment after the Defendant denied treatment following the accident. In that case, the trial Court denied the Plaintiff’s motion and the Court of Civil Appeals reversed that decision.
Although it did not state as much, the Court applied what amounted to a reverse eggshell doctrine theory. The “eggshell doctrine” states that you take the plaintiff as you find him or her, for purposes of determining damages. It provides that plaintiffs who are far more susceptible to a particular harm than the average person may nonetheless recover their full damages without reduction. So applying the eggshell doctrine in the MVA case allowed the employee to maximize her recovery against the third party driver. In the Victoryland opinion, however, the Court relied on a reverse application because it found the Employee was more susceptible to a particular harm (aggravation to the compensable low back) than the average person. So, in the liability case, her eggshell condition put responsibility for the increased damage on the liable 3rd party and, in the workers’ compensation case, that same condition put the responsibility on the Employer.
My Two Cents: While the Court did not say as much, this type of situation really comes down to the specific facts of a case. The seriousness of the pre-existing condition versus the seriousness of the “unusual traumatic event.” Other factors to consider would be whether or not the injured Employee was actually acting in a routine and customary manner at the time of the accident. In the Victoryland case, it was noted that the Employee was driving her two grandchildren and so she was not likely to have been driving in a unsafe or erratic manner. However, in situations where the driver was driving in an unsafe manner, that could certainly be used in support of a motion for relief from future liability of medical benefits.
A Few More Cents: Of note, the Employer formerly asserted its subrogation rights in the MVA case. The Employer continued to pay for the low back injury medical treatment and, when the Employee recovered from the other driver in the motor vehicle accident case, the Employer received $46,950.81 in satisfaction of its subrogation lien. The lesson to be learned here is that the right to a subrogation recovery and the statutory right to reimbursement can extend to any event involving third-party liability that increases the amount or duration of medical benefits in your workers’ compensation case.
About the Author
This blog submission was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers' compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers' Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers' compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.
As of July 1, 2024, the maximum workers’ compensation payable is increased to $1,130.00 per week and the minimum is increased to $311.00 per week. The memorandum regarding the new minimum and maximum rates issued by the Director of the Alabama Department of Labor Workers’ Compensation Division, Steve Garrett, can be accessed at https://labor.alabama.gov/docs/guides/wc_weeklywage.pdf.
About the Author
This blog submission was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.
In Alabama, all disputed workers’ compensation claims are handled through the regular court system. Alabama is the only remaining state to handle disputed claims in this manner. The statute of limitations (“SOL”) for filing a workers’ compensation lawsuit is 2 years from the date of injury or date of last indemnity payment. For cumulative trauma or exposure claims, it is 2 years from the date of last exposure. One exception to the 2-year SOL is if the claimed injury was latent and could not reasonably have been discovered until a later date.
In the recently released opinion of Dillard v. Calvary Assembly of God, the Alabama Court of Appeals affirmed and clarified that a latent injury exception to the SOL is not applicable to situations where a reasonably minded employee knows they have a compensable injury even when there has been no lost time from work. Further, an injury will not be considered latent based on the employee not knowing the full extent of the injury. In Dillard, the employee testified that he had frequent low back pain. Despite being off work following each of his two back surgeries, he never claimed and did not receive temporary-total-disability benefits. As a result, the trial court concluded that a reasonable person would have known the nature, seriousness, and probable compensable nature of the work-related injury as of the date the first surgery was recommended as a possible treatment option.
About the Author:
This blog submission was prepared by Karen Cleveland, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Cleveland by e-mailing her at kcleveland@fishnelson.com or by calling her directly at 205-332-1599.
On May 19, 2023, the Alabama Supreme Court release its opinion in Ex parte Midsouth Paving, Inc. wherein it reversed the trial court’s denial of summary judgment on the issue of whether the roadside paving company where the temporary employee was assigned was afforded the protections of the exclusivity doctrine as a special employer. The trial court declined to grant summary judgment because the employee was never made aware that he was a special employee. In reversing the court’s decision, the Alabama Supreme Court rationalized that the mindset of an employee is of little consequence when determining whether a special employer/employee relationship exists.
About the Author
This blog submission was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.
On December 2, 2022, the Alabama Supreme Court release its opinion in Ex parte Varoff wherein it granted the employer’s petition for writ of mandamus. The trial judge had previously denied summary judgment in this safety guard removal case where the evidence revealed that a lid was removed from the subject machine just prior to the employee injuring his arm. The Alabama Supreme Court determined that it was necessary to remove the lid to unclog the machine. Since unclogging the machine enabled the machine to work properly it constituted a repair thus disqualifying it as a safety guard removal.
About the Author
This blog submission was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.
In Alabama, all disputed workers’ compensation claims are handled through the regular court system. Alabama is the only remaining state to handle disputed claims in this manner. The statute of limitations (“SOL”) for filing a workers’ compensation lawsuit is 2 years from the date of injury or date of last indemnity payment. For cumulative trauma or exposure claims, it is 2 years from the date of last exposure. One exception to the 2-year SOL is if the claimed injury was latent and could not reasonably have been discovered until a later date.
In the recently released opinion of Dillard v. Calvary Assembly of God, the Alabama Court of Appeals affirmed and clarified that a latent injury exception to the SOL is not applicable to situations where a reasonably minded employee knows they have a compensable injury even when there has been no lost time from work. Further, an injury will not be considered latent based on the employee not knowing the full extent of the injury. In Dillard, the employee testified that he had frequent low back pain. Despite being off work following each of his two back surgeries, he never claimed and did not receive temporary-total-disability benefits. As a result, the trial court concluded that a reasonable person would have known the nature, seriousness, and probable compensable nature of the work-related injury as of the date the first surgery was recommended as a possible treatment option.
This blog submission was prepared by Karen Cleveland, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Cleveland by e-mailing her at kcleveland@fishnelson.com or by calling her directly at 205-332-1599.
Although not exactly a broad sweeping reform of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act, the Alabama legislature recently amended the statutory definitions of “employer” and “employee”.
Effective July 1, 2022, a marketplace platform is no longer considered an “employer”, and a contractor that works for a marketplace platform is no longer considered an “employee” for purposes of workers’ compensation. Under Alabama law, a marketplace platform is an entity that offers a digital network or mobile application that connects potential customers to service providers, and accepts service requests exclusively through the digital network. Examples of marketplace networks Uber, DoorDash, and Buzd. In order to be excluded from coverage, the marketplace platform and contractor must agree in writing that the contractor is an independent contractor, the platform cannot unilaterally prescribe specific hours during which the contractor must be available to accept service requests, the platform cannot contractually prohibit the contractor from accepting service requests for other platforms or engaging in another occupation or business, the platform cannot mandate furnished equipment or tools essential for the performance of the work (except as required by law or for safety reasons), and the contractor must bear substantially all of the expenses they incur in performing services.
About the Author
This blog submission was written by Charley Drummond, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Mr. Drummond by e-mailing him at cdrummond@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at (205) 332-3414.
Fresh on the heels of COVID-19, reports of monkeypox outbreaks in the United States are starting to get the attention of employers. Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. Monkeypox symptoms are like smallpox symptoms, but milder and rarely fatal.
Monkeypox will not rise to the level of a pandemic because it does not transmit as quickly as the coronavirus and stopping it will not require dramatic interventions like the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The White House recently declared the virus a public health emergency with over 7,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. A county in California declared monkeypox a public health emergency earlier this week with 59 probable/confirmed cases within that county.
A news release from the Alabama Department of Public Health said as of August 8, 2022, there were 19 cases of monkeypox in Alabama.
As with COVID-19, it is conceivable that workers’ compensation claims will be made for monkeypox. For the same reasons that COVID-19 WC claims were denied in Alabama, claims for monkeypox will also likely be denied.
In Alabama, an occupational disease is defined as “a disease arising out of and in the course of employment… which is due to hazards in excess of those ordinarily incident to employment in general and is peculiar to the occupation in which the employee is engaged but without regard to negligence or fault, if any, of the employer.”
Therefore, for the monkeypox virus to be considered compensable in Alabama, the employee would have to be able to prove that contracting it was due to hazards in excess of those ordinarily incident to employment in general and that it is peculiar to the employee’s occupation.
It will be difficult for an employee to show that contracting the virus resulted from a risk of employment. The reason being that, like the flu, you face the same sort of risk when you go home or when you walk about in public. Some state laws have presumptions for health care workers or first responders. Alabama is not one of those states. Without a statutory presumption in place, it would be nearly impossible to prove causation.
About the Author
This blog submission was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.
Effective July 1, 2022, the mileage reimbursement rate for Alabama has been increased to 62.5 cents per mile, and 4 cent increase over the first half of 2022.
About the Author
This blog submission was prepared by Charley Drummond, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Mr. Drummond by e-mailing him at cdrummond@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at (205) 332-3414.
The Alabama Supreme Court recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and its third-party workers’ compensation administrator, Sedgwick Claims Management entered by the Circuit Court of Franklin County, Alabama in regard to a claim for the tort of outrage brought by Florence King. King initially asserted a workers’ compensation claim against Pilgrim’s Pride in October 2012, claiming that she suffered injuries to both shoulders and arms as a result of the repetitive nature of her job on Pilgrim’s Pride’s production line. Although Pilgrim’s Pride disputed the compensability of King’s alleged injuries, it nevertheless provided King with medical treatment, which included surgery on one of her shoulders and pain management. After King’s doctors determined she had reached maximum medical improvement, the claims adjuster at Sedgwick reached out to King and offered to settle her case as disputed. King initially accepted the settlement offer, but then changed her mind. When additional treatment prescribed by King’s treating physicians was not approved, King sued Pilgrim’s Pride for workers’ compensation benefits. She also sued Pilgrim’s Pride and Sedgwick asserting a claim of outrage, for what she claimed was intentional infliction of emotional distress due to a delay in approving medical treatment related to her alleged injuries. Pilgrim’s Pride denied the allegations of King’s Complaint, asserting that her alleged injuries were not compensable. The workers’ compensation case proceeded to trial in September 2020. The parties stipulated that the only issue in dispute at trial was whether King’s alleged injuries were compensable. King’s orthopedist testified that he did not have a firm conviction as to whether King’s job duties caused or contributed to her alleged injuries. However, the trial court found King’s alleged injuries compensable.
Thereafter, both Pilgrim’s Pride and Sedgwick filed motions for summary judgment as to King’s outrage claim. The defendants asserted that since the compensability of King’s alleged injuries was disputed, they had no duty to provide King with medical treatment until the trial court found those alleged injuries compensable. The trial court agreed, and entered summary judgment in their favor. King then appealed to the Supreme Court, and the Court affirmed the trial court’s decision without writing a formal opinion.
My Two Cents
Outrage is an extremely limited cause of action. In order to prevail on a claim for the tort of outrage, a plaintiff must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant intended to inflict emotional distress and that the defendant’s outrageous and extreme conduct caused emotional distress so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it. Alabama law has long held that a defendant cannot be liable for the tort of outrage by merely insisting on its legal rights – even if the defendant knows that doing so is likely to cause severe emotional distress. Alabama law has also long held that it would be a violation of an employer’s right to due process of the law to require it to provide workers’ compensation benefits when there is a bona fide dispute as to the employer’s liability for the injury. Therefore, the Supreme Court’s decision affirms the fact that an employer (or its insurer) cannot be found guilty of outrageous conduct for denying workers’ compensation benefits when there has been no admission or legal adjudication that the underlying injury is compensable.
About the Author
This blog submission was prepared by Charley Drummond, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Mr. Drummond by e-mailing him at cdrummond@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at (205) 332-3414.