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.
Pablo Ledezma v. Procter & Gamble Hair Care, LLC, Cambridge Integrated Services Group, Inc., Court of Appeals of Iowa, No. 3-587/12-2103
The Claimant was injured at work in 2008. The employer and Claimant entered into a settlement agreement on July 23, 2010, which was subsequently approved on September 3, 2010. The agreement indicated that the Claimant had sustained a compensable injury and that he was entitled to temporary, permanent partial and medical benefits.
In July of 2011, the Claimant filed a Petition at Law alleging a bad faith claim based upon a failure to pay his outstanding medical bills as required in the settlement agreement. In August 2012, the defendants filed their motion for summary judgment arguing that the Claimant’s claim was based in contract and no cause of action existed for bad faith breach of contract and that since all medical bills were paid there was no breach of contract.
The Claimant filed a resistance indicating that the bad faith claim was based upon a delay in payment of medical benefits pursuant to the settlement agreement. The district court granted the motion for summary judgment on the grounds that the claim was a contract claim and not an insurance or workers’ compensation bad faith claim. On appeal, the Court first found that the Claimant had not preserved the issue as to whether any initial denial of benefits was in bad faith. The Court then went on to affirm the district court’s ruling holding that it is well settled law that this was a contract claim and not a bad faith claim.
If you have any questions on this, please feel free to call Mark Bosscher or Lee Hook at 515-243-2100. We'd be happy to help answer any questions you might have, big or small!