State News : Kentucky

NWCDN is a network of law firms dedicated to protecting employers in workers’ compensation claims.


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.


Kentucky

JSB Attorneys, PLLC

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Temporary Total Disability (TTD) Benefits and Credit for Wages Paid
General Motors, LLC v. Giovanni Smith, 2024-CA-0367-WC (7/12/24 KY Court of Appeals, To Be Published, not final)
 

Smith was employed by GM for 13 years working on the assembly line. In February of 2021, he began having pain in his right hand and wrist which he reported in March. He was pulled off the line on August 10, 2021 due to his injury and moved to a different position until March 29, 2022, when he first went off work. He underwent carpal tunnel surgery on July 13, 2022 and was released to full duty, without restrictions, on September 12, 2022. He returned to a different position following surgery and testified that he did not believe he could return to his pre-injury position. Smith testified that his position from August 2021 through March of 2022 involved cleaning and make-work projects, or no work at all. Dr. Bloemer (PL IME) diagnosed an arthritic condition as well as CTS due to work, opining that Smith is incapable of returning to his pre-injury position. Dr. Nicoson (Def IME) found the CTS to be work-related but felt the arthritis was not. He assessed permanent restrictions that would not prevent a return to the pre-injury position. Both doctors agreed that Smith reached MMI on October 13, 2022.
 
The ALJ awarded TTD from August 1, 2021 to October 13, 2022, with no credit for wages paid and PPD benefits with a 3x multiplier. GM appealed, arguing that TTD should not begin until March 29, 2022 or, in the alternative, that they should receive a credit for wages paid during this time. The Court of Appeals affirmed the TTD award, finding that Smith was not at MMI and had not reached a level of improvement that would permit a return to employment. The Court also upheld the denial of the credit because GM failed to provide paystubs showing the net wages after taxes. GM also appealed the application of the 3x multiplier. The Court of Appeals upheld the award of the 3x multiplier, finding that the substantial evidence supported the award.

KENTUCKY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

House Bill 401 was passed, takes effect July 15, 2024, and is summarized below:
 
KRS 342.120, governing the computation of a claimant’s average weekly wage, is amended to include unemployment benefits received in the 52 weeks prior to the date of injury.
 
The definition of physician in KRS 342.0011 is expanded to include physicians licensed to practice in any jurisdiction in the United States (previously only included physicians licensed to practice in Kentucky). The definition of physician in KRS 342.033 is amended to include physicians licensed in any jurisdiction in the United States, as well as retired physicians who were previously authorized to practice in Kentucky, if in good standing when license was surrendered.
 
KENTUCKY WORKERS' COMPENSATION CASE UPDATE

Extraterritorial Jurisdiction: Employment “Principally Localized” within a Particular State
Hicks v. KEMI, 2023-SC-0284-WC (3/14/2024, not final)
 
Hicks worked in Kentucky for Eagle Coal, a subsidiary of Booth Energy, from 1996 to 2017. In August of 2017, Booth Energy asked Hicks to transfer his employment to another subsidiary, Southeastern Land, to work at a mine in West Virginia. Southeastern Land was headquartered in Kentucky, 45 minutes from its West Virginia mine. Hicks remained a Kentucky resident, working 6 days and 60 hours a week in West Virgina at the mine, occasionally traveling to the KY headquarters. Hicks was injured in 2019 while working in the West Virginia mine. He filed a workers’ compensation claim in Kentucky, despite receiving medical and income benefits from Southeastern Land’s West Virginia workers’ compensation insurance carrier.
 
The ALJ awarded benefits, finding the extraterritorial coverage statute applied because Claimant’s employment was “principally localized” in Kentucky at the time of the injury.
 
The Supreme Court of Kentucky disagreed, holding there was no extraterritorial jurisdiction because Hicks’s employment was “principally localized” in West Virginia. The Court explained that when determining where employment is “principally localized” the ALJ must first decide if the employer has a place of business in the state. If yes, then the ALJ must determine whether the employee regularly works at that place of business. If yes again, then the employment is deemed to be principally localized in the subject state. Because the Claimant regularly worked in West Virginia at the mine owned by Southeastern Land, only occasionally visiting the Kentucky headquarters, his employment was principally localized in West Virginia.


 
Should you have any questions or wish to discuss any related matters, please contact us at your convenience.

H. Douglas Jones, Esq. – djones@jsbattorneys.com, 859.594.4200
Margo Menefee, Esq. – mmenefee@jsbattorneys.com, 859.594.4200