Case settles, major sanctions award lifted by judge

No Comp Bar for Navy Seaman’s Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 6, 2012
Tags: Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia, Workers' Comp

An enlisted seaman, who was part of a Navy crew to pre-commission a nuclear submarine built by defendant shipbuilding company and who allegedly contracted mesothelioma from asbestos exposure, is not barred by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act from pursuing a negligence action against the shipyard, the Supreme Court of Virginia says. The comp bar’s exclusivity [...]

$6.2M settlement is record for comp claim

By Peter Vieth
Published: October 16, 2012
Tags: Million-Dollar Settlements, Workers' Comp

A judge has approved the largest reported workers’ compensation settlement in Virginia, a package that coordinates ongoing social security benefits, a Medicare set-aside fund and a special needs trust to care for a young former worker who will need lifetime services. The payout by the employer’s insurance company is $6.2 million, more than twice the [...]

Workers’ Comp Bar Covers Assault

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 15, 2012
Tags: Judge Junius P. Fulton III, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts, Workers' Comp

A woman who alleges a coworker grabbed her breasts as they were discussing whether he would become her supervisor has alleged an injury that arose out of her employment, and the Norfolk Circuit Court sustains employer’s plea in bar to her negligence claim. An injury that comes within the scope of the Workers’ Compensation Act [...]

Payout believed to be largest comp settlement ever – $6,234,989 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: October 15, 2012
Tags: Million-Dollar Settlements, Workers' Comp

On Sept. 21, 2000, Jacob Steele was struck in the head by a large bilge pump while performing construction work. This was his first job after graduating from high school, and at the time of the accident, he was three months shy of beginning community college. Following an initial Glasgow Coma Scale of 4, Jacob [...]

No P.I. Claim for Employee’s Estate

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 4, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge R. Terrence Ney, Virginia Circuit Courts, Workers' Comp

A Fairfax Circuit Court dismisses a personal injury suit filed by the estate of an employee who died in a car accident with his coworker, against the coworker and the employer, in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in Giordano v. McBar Indus. Inc., which held that the Workers’ Compensation Commission is the exclusive [...]

Change-In-Condition Filing Was Timely

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 24, 2012
Tags: Per Curiam Opinion, Supreme Court of Virginia, Workers' Comp

A school board employee’s application for a change in condition was timely filed and the Supreme Court of Virginia affirms the judgment of the Court of Appeals based on the reasoning in that court’s 2011 decision in this case. Prince William County School Board v. Rahim (Per Curiam) No. 111443, Sept. 14, 2012; Va.Ct.App.; Ralph [...]

Maryland Court of Appeals affirms workers’ comp award to Tupa

By Dolan Media Newswires
Published: August 23, 2012
Tags: Federal Courts, Workers' Comp

BALTIMORE, MD — Former Washington Redskins punter Tom Tupa can collect workers’ compensation benefits in Maryland for a career-ending back injury that occurred at FedEx field during warm-ups before a preseason game in August 2005, the Court of Appeals held Wednesday. Redskins’ management and its insurer argued that Tupa’s awkward fall was not a compensable [...]

Nurse’s Handbag Not Job Risk

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 2, 2012
Tags: Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

The Court of Appeals reverses an award of workers’ comp benefits to a nurse who injured her hand reaching inside her handbag for a favorite pen; as a matter of law, the nurse’s handbag is not a risk peculiar to the job under Virginia’s “actual risk” test. In 2009 nurse injured her hand reaching inside [...]

Paraplegic will receive $1.25M total in workers’ comp payout – $775,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 23, 2012
Tags: Workers' Comp

An undocumented worker fell from a scaffold in January 1998. He suffered a spinal cord injury which rendered him a paraplegic. The case was accepted as compensable and medicals and indemnity were paid pursuant to an award. After one year, the carrier stopped payments, requested work authorization and made a FOIA request to Immigration Services. [...]