Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation Benefits

When we go to the circus, we are often amazed by the dangerous and death-defying stunts performed. It may come, as somewhat of a surprise, that, even with circus stunts, employers are required to adhere to certain safety protocols and regulations.

According to a recent news release from the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), failing to follow safety regulations led to a disastrous accident at New England performance of a “hair hanging” act.

While performing their act, the hair hangers were supposed to be secured to the overhead apparatus using a carabiner similar to those used by mountain climbers. OSHA found the carabiner was overloaded, causing eight performers to fall over 15-feet and land on another worker.
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Su Warren v. Williams & Parsons PC, a case from the Supreme Court of the State of Idaho, involved a claimant who was injured when a car crashed into the wall directly outside of her office, causing her to be thrown across the room. She immediately felt pain in her face and hand and suffered from dizziness. Her primary care physician (PCP) noted subtle evidence of cognitive impairment and a decrease in her ability to concentrate.

X-rays of her hand were negative for physical injuries and a head CT scan showed no abnormalities. Her doctor stated that she had nearly fully recovered but recommended continued physical therapy. After completing physical therapy, she had made a significant recovery from her injuries, according to her PCP.

Around the same time her doctor found near complete recovery, her employer fired her on grounds that her work had deteriorated beginning three months prior to the accident. She had been earning $14 per hour plus overtime during tax season.
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Workers’ compensation appeals often involve extremely complex litigation to help claimants in need get appropriate benefits to which they are rightfully entitled. Benavides v. Eastern N.M. Med. Ctr., a case from the New Mexico Supreme Court, involved a claimant who was working as a registered nurse.

Claimant slipped on a wet floor at the medical center and seriously injured her right leg, hip, lower back, and neck. She quickly applied for workers’ compensation benefits and was awarded around $580 per week as the maximum allowable benefit under a temporary total disability rating. This happened in 2006.
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Burkhart v. H.J. Heinz Co., a case from the Supreme Court of Ohio, involved a plaintiff who was employed by defendant as a maintenance worker at its bottling plant from 1946 to 1986. For the first 30 years of his employment, he worked at a bottling plant, and for the last 10, he worked at another processing facility. At the bottling plant, he claims to have been exposed to asbestos from pipe insulation.

He was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma at the end of 2005. He filed a products liability lawsuit against several asbestos manufacturers and gave a videotaped deposition in 2007. He died that year. Following his death, his wife filed a workers’ compensation claim against defendant.
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Workers’ compensation claims that involve an on-the-job injury that occurred while driving in a vehicle tend to involve more complex litigation. In Friebel v. Visiting Nurse Ass’n of Mid-Ohio, claimant was a nurse who worked for an employer that provided in-home healthcare to patients.

Claimant began working for employer in November of 2006. On a typical workday, claimant would see multiple patients in their respective homes. She drove her personal vehicle when going to see her clients. She would stop in the office to pick up supplies, read her mail, and attend company meetings.

When she worked on the weekends, she was given paid mileage from her home to her first patient, driving to additional patients’ homes, and for her ride home after work. The company would subtract 24 miles and 30 minutes from each day’s earnings to account for the time spent driving to the office, even if she did not actually go to the office.
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Gales v. Sunoco & Amer. Zurich Ins., a case from the Maryland Court of Appeals, involved claimant who was injured while driving a gasoline tanker truck for his employer in February of 2010. Following the accident, employer’s insurance company compensated claimant under a workers’ compensation benefits rating of temporary total disability from February through December of 2010.

Claimant requested that employer pay for additional temporary total disability benefits and for an evaluation by a pain management specialist. Employer denied employee’s claim.

At this point, employee filed a claim with the workers’ compensation commission and received an award of compensation, ordering employer pay for the additional benefits and the evaluation requested.
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Gits Mfg. Co. v. Frank, a case from the Iowa Supreme Court, involved a claimant who began working for employer in 1997. She worked as a spot welder and on the assembly line. In February of 2006, claimant’s doctor diagnosed her with constrictive bronchiolitis causing pulmonary dysfunction.

Both claimant and employer stipulated that this was a work-related injury. Her doctor placed her on medical leave and recommended that she stop working for employer. Her doctor continued to treat her and concluded that she reached maximum medical improvement in March of 2009.
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According to a recent report from 7 News Boston, federal legislators are increasing reporting requirements for employers in relation to fatal on-the-job injuries.

Under the new law that takes effect on January 1, 2015, employers must make detailed reports of fatal workplace accidents to the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Under the current law, these reports were only required if three or more employees were killed or hospitalized while at work. In the case of a fatality, the report must be submitted within eight hours of the accident.

The new legislation will also require businesses of any size to file a report within 24 hours of any accidents that result in serious injuries requiring hospitalization, even if the worker survives.

Specifically, the reporting requirement defines severe, but non-fatal accidents, as those requiring hospitalization, loss of eye, or amputation. OSHA stated that a severe workplace accident is warning sign that dangerous conditions exist that may require intervention by the agency.

As our Boston work injury lawyers understand, employers are hesitant to report injuries out of fears that OSHA will shut down the company, levy significant fines, or require costly changes in operation. As we have discussed in other blog entries, employers are often concerned with their bottom line far more than workers’ safety. It should come as no real surprise that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has raised concerns about this new law.
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For the most part, courts have held that if a worker is hurt while participating in a voluntary but work-related event, injuries aren’t compensable under workers’ compensation laws. In weighing such a claim, courts will consider factors such as whether the function was truly considered voluntary, whether workers were paid and to what extent the employer benefited from the worker’s involvement.

Our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys know just because an employer formally labels a function “voluntary” doesn’t necessarily mean it is so, and there have been more than a few exceptions allowing for compensation for injuries sustained during work-related extracurricular activities.

A perfect recent example is in the case of Whigham v. Jackson Dawson Communications, before the South Carolina Supreme Court. Although this case took place outside the Massachusetts court system, the same general principles are still applicable. Both systems have found injuries are only compensable under workers’ compensation insurance when they occur during or arise in the course of one’s work duties.
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