In Baumann v. WCAB (Kellogg Company) , No. 2603 C.D. 2015, the claimant petitioned for review of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board's (WCAB) order affirming the WCJ's decision on remand granting the employer's termination petition and granting the claimant's petition for penalties, but awarding a 0% penalty. The Commonwealth Court affirmed the...
Insights and analysis from our attorneys
C&W Journal
November 01, 2016
Subsequently Filed Petitions to Terminate — Factors Employers Need to Consider
November 01, 2016
NJ Case Law Update — Wage Reconstruction and the Katsoris Rule
A common argument made by petitioners' attorneys is in favor of wage reconstruction. This principle, as outlined in the seminal NJ Supreme Court opinion of Katsoris v. South Jersey Pub. Co ., 131...
November 01, 2016
EDI Forms Solution: Linking EDI Transactions with Filing Select...
On September 9, 2013, the Workers' Compensation Automation and Integration System (WCAIS) went live in Pennsylvania. From day one, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (Bureau) has been faced with...
September 30, 2016
September is Upon Us, Which Means Rule Changes in NJ
The New Jersey Supreme Court amended and adopted new Rules Governing the Courts of New Jersey, effective September 1, 2016. Some of the highlights for the civil practitioner include changes to the...
September 30, 2016
Learned Intermediary Doctrine Remains Jersey Strong
A recent decision out of Atlantic County, New Jersey, continues to bode well for the application of the learned intermediary doctrine. The learned intermediary doctrine is a defense rule that...
September 30, 2016
Insurance Bad Faith is No Longer Part of the "Entire...
Those familiar with New Jersey procedural law are also familiar with the "entire controversy" doctrine. The entire controversy is codified in a court rule, specifically, R.4:30A, and provides in...
September 30, 2016
Cybersecurity and Data Protection - Today's Test for Higher...
University of Connecticut, City College of San Francisco, University of Central Florida, University of Virginia, University of Northern Iowa, Southern New Hampshire University; aside from being...
July 23, 2016
Impairment Rating Evaluation: WCJ Permitted to Reject...
In the case of IA Construction Corporation v. WCAB (Rhodes) , 2016 Pa. LEXIS 1070, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a workers' compensation judge has the authority to reject the...
July 23, 2016
Ethical Decision Making for Adjusters
Claims adjusters in virtually all jurisdictions are bound by a code of ethics. Many adjusters are licensed and practice in multiple states and therefore have multiple codes that they must follow....
July 23, 2016
Effort to Have Cooper Interrogatories Propounded Upon Plaintiffs&...
Indeed, the most frequent attack made upon physicians who perform independent medical examinations for defendants is an attack on the doctor's financial profile, i.e., how much money does the...
July 23, 2016
Commercial Trucking and Employment Law: The "ABCs" of...
Generally speaking, employers do not have to pay unemployment, disability, or social security taxes or workers' compensation premiums for independent contractors. Under New Jersey law, employers...
July 23, 2016
Abercrombie & Fitch, One Year Later
The Supreme Court decided EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc . one year ago on June 1, 2015. At the time it was unclear what effect it might have on employers. The facts of the case are...
May 29, 2016
Medical Provider Not Permitted to Intervene After Execution of...
In Peter Schatzberg, DC and Philadelphia Pain Management v. WCAB (Bemis Company, Inc.) , the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently denied a Penalty Petition filed by a medical provider alleging...
May 29, 2016
First Amendment Prevails in Off-Label Use Debate
In Amarin Pharmaceutical vs. FDA, a preliminary injunction granted by the Southern District of New York prohibited the FDA from taking action against Amarin over truthful, non-misleading "off...
May 28, 2016
Continued Difficulty Exposing "Professional Witnesses"
On April 14, 2016, the Honorable Robert A. Mazzoni of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas granted a Motion for Reconsideration, reversing an earlier decision permitting Cooper...
May 28, 2016
Digging Deep to the Rock: WV Supreme Court Solidifies Arbitration...
In Geological Assessment & Leasing v. O'Hara , 780 S.E.2d 647 (W.Va., 2015), the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia considered three consolidated appeals, each arising out of a circuit...
May 28, 2016
Commercial Driving Scores Back on Public Display
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which is the first federal law in more than ten years to provide long-term funding...
May 25, 2016
New Jersey Premises Liability Update — Recent Decisions on the...
Anyone familiar with New Jersey's premises liability law is also familiar with the mode-of-operation liability principles applied to cases where a dangerous condition of the property has been...
March 04, 2016
Heart Attack Case—Circumstantial Evidence of Physical Exertion...
In the case of Robert Dietz (deceased) by Judith Dietz v. WCAB (Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority ), No. 2051 C.D. 2014, 2015 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 532, the Commonwealth Court addressed the...
March 04, 2016
Complaints of Cumulative Trauma Constitute a Work Injury
On November 23, 2015, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania held that an employee’s notice to his employer, stating that he was experiencing back pain as a result of cumulative trauma, served as...
March 02, 2016
Retroactivity of the 2011 PIP Amendments, a Question of Legislative...
The New Jersey Automobile Insurance Freedom of Choice and Cost Containment Act of 1984, L. 1983, c. 362, provides for a statutory right of recovery of personal injury protection (PIP) benefits...