Workers’ Comp « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

No comp lien on med-mal award

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 20, 2011
Tags: Judge Clifford R. Weckstein, Medical Malpractice, Roanoke Circuit Court, Workers' Comp

An employer who paid for treatment of an employee’s broken leg cannot collect on a workers’ comp lien on the nearly $1 million medical malpractice award the employee later won from a Roanoke jury.
Michael W. Thompson broke his right leg on the job at Bentech Manufacturing in Roanoke. In 2003, he sought workers’ compensation [...]

Cell Phone Caused Employee Injury

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 6, 2011
Tags: Judge Stephen R. McCullough, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

A majority of the Court of Appeals affirms the commission’s award of medical benefits to a nurse injured in a car accident after she was distracted by the illumination of a personal cell phone she dedicated to receiving calls from her employer while on call on weekends.
Hospital employed nurse to provide hospice care in patient [...]

No Award for Insufficient Part-time Work

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 29, 2011
Tags: Per Curiam Opinion, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

On rehearing, the Court of Appeals agrees with employer that the commission’s award of temporary partial disability benefits should be reversed.
Employee suffered a compensable injury to his lower left leg in October 2007. Before his injury, employer paid employee $11.50 per hour for working construction between 45 and 50 hours per week.
In January 2009, [...]

Employee’s Attendance Defeats Noncooperation Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 16, 2011
Tags: Judge Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

The Court of Appeals affirms the commission decision rejecting employer’s application to terminate employee’s disability benefits for unjustifiable noncooperation with vocational rehabilitation; the court finds credible record evidence of cooperation, including employee’s attendance at most of his appointments with employer’s assigned vocational rehabilitation counselor.
Employee has a ninth grade education and bipolar disorder. He suffered [...]

Appeal Scuttled By Brief Rule

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 2, 2011
Tags: Per Curiam Opinion, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

A claimant’s pro se appeal of the denial of his request for medical benefits for an arm injury is rejected by the Court of Appeals because claimant failed to comply with Rule 5A:20 requirements for his brief.
Claimant contends the commission had limited authority and jurisdiction to rule on federal violations of law; liability should have [...]

No Spa Pool on Doc’s Prescription

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2011
Tags: Judge Robert P. Frank, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

A school board need not pay for the “spa pool” for an employee with back pain from a shoulder injury; although claimant had a doctor’s prescription, he did not show that a six-person home spa pool was medically necessary, and the Court of Appeals reverses the commission decision ordering payment by employer.
Claimant saw a television [...]

Hand Injury Prevented Vocational Rehab

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 19, 2011
Tags: Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

The Court of Appeals affirms the commission’s termination of employee’s benefits for failure to participate in vocational rehabilitation; employee may not transform employer’s change of condition hearing into an adjudication of compensability under Va. Code § 65.2-704, the Court of Appeals says.
This appeal follows a remand on employer’s earlier appeal of the denial [...]

No ‘Lost Wages’ Claim for Plant Furlough

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 19, 2011
Tags: Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

A claimant who was furloughed from work for a pre-defined and limited duration that applied to all manufacturing employees, whether or not they were work-restricted, is not entitled to lost wages, in the absence of evidence showing a causal relationship between his restricted capacity and the wage loss; the Court of Appeals reverses the commission’s [...]

Comp Claim Remanded on Limitations Issue

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 19, 2011
Tags: Judge Robert J. Humphreys, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

On rehearing en banc, the Court of Appeals says claimant’s application for a change in condition after an initial “medical-only award” was not barred by the statute of limitations, but the court remands the case to the commission to determine the date when the limitations period under Va. Code § 65.2-708(A) began to run.
A Prince [...]

Employee Can Seek New Physician

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 6, 2011
Tags: Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

The Court of Appeals reversed a majority decision of the commission affirming the decision of a deputy commissioner that employee’s treatment by a physician recommended by her attorney was unauthorized; the Court of Appeals found that employer’s letter constituted a denial of benefits allowing employee to select a new physician at employer’s expense under Va. [...]

Virginia Lawyers Weekly