» Workers Compensation

DC Workers Comp: Bus driver's injuries when walking back to her car at end of first half of a split shift were compensable

In Lee v. DOES and WMATA, No. 21-AA-0130 (D.C. May 26, 2022), the D.C. Court of Appeals reversed the Compensation Review Board, finding that a WMATA bus driver’s workers’ compensation claim was compensable when she had been injured while walking to her personal vehicle at the end of the first half of a split shift. The… Read More
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D.C. Court of Appeals clarifies the method to assign permanent partial disability awards

COURT OF APPEALS CLARIFIES THE METHOD TO ASSIGN PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY AWARDS UNDER THE D C WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ACT Like many other workers’ compensation statutes, the D.C. Workers’ Compensation Act [Act] provides a schedule setting forth the amount of benefits that may be awarded for the permanent disability… Read More
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Virginia Workers’ Compensation:  Injury After Clocking Out

In Jones v. The Woodlands, Inc., Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00001035833 (March 29, 2016), the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission ruled that an employee injured on the employer’s premises but after he had clocked out was not injured in the course of his employment. The Commission reversed the Deputy Commissi… Read More
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Avoiding the Late Payment Penalty

Compensation awarded in an Order must be “paid within 10 days after it becomes due” or a statutorily mandated twenty-percent penalty shall be imposed. D.C. Code § 32-1515. In Daly v. D.C. Dep't of Empl. Servs., 2015 D.C. App. LEXIS 359, 12-13 (D.C. Aug. 6, 2015), the Court held that payment becomes … Read More
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D.C. Workers Compensation Act Amended to Provide for Reversion of Third Party Claims

The District of Columbia Workers Compensation Act provides for an automatic assignment of the right to sue a third party to the employer if the person entitled to compensation does not file suit within six months after being awarded compensation in an order. D.C. Code § 32-1535(b). This provision had been applied to ba… Read More
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Workers' Compensation Claims Management in the District of Columbia and Maryland

This article presents insights into the management of workers’ compensation claims in the District of Columbia and Maryland. READ MORE Read More
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Light Duty Programs in the District of Columbia

Instituting a light-duty program can result in substantial savings. Many employers use some form of light duty program to limit long term exposures, and to encourage re-integration of disabled employees into the workplace. Some find it can be an effective component of the risk management plan by fostering safe work practice… Read More
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Maryland workers’ compensation: causal relationship required to relate a second injury to original

A recent Maryland Court of Special Appeals decision, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority v. Williams, 2012 Md. App. LEXIS 46 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2012) has clarified the status of the law in Maryland with respect to the causal relationship required to demonstrate that a second injury (which is not physically relat… Read More
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Virginia Insurance Coverage:  Supreme Court interprets auto policy’s workers compensation exclusion

In Christy v. Mercury Casualty Company, No. 102138 (March 2, 2012), the Supreme Court of Virginia held that an exclusion in an automobile insurance policy barred the insured from receiving any payment for medical expenses where a portion of medical expenses had already been paid by workers' compensation benefits. The p… Read More
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Maryland Workers’ Compensation Defense:  Court rejects special mission exception

In Garrity v. IWIF, No. 1185, September Term, 2010 (Md. App. February 9, 2012), appellant was a part-time bailiff at the District Court for Baltimore City, where he was involved in an automobile accident as he was returning to the courthouse. Appellant had already arrived at work earlier in the morning but realized the tie… Read More
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