Workers Compensation
| Subrogation |
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| Subrogation is a tool used by employers or their workers' compensation insurance carriers to seek reimbursement from a third party for the amounts paid to an injured worker. The employer's position is that the third party who caused the employee's injury should rightfully bear the burden of compensating the injured worker. In various forms, each state provides for subrogation. Some states have instituted no limits on an employer's right to seek reimbursement, others allow both the employer and the employee to maintain actions against the third party, and still others give either the employer or the employee priority in filing an action against the third party. More... |
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| Exclusiveness of Compensation Remedy |
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| One of the hallmarks of workers' compensation is its exclusivity as a remedy for the injured worker. With exception, when an employee suffers an injury in the course of his employment, his remedy will only be by way of the workers' compensation system. Workers' compensation, therefore, trumps all other remedies including those under common-law tort, statutes, and contracts. The exclusivity of workers' compensation, though challenged, has continually been found to be constitutional. More... |
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| Claiming Compensation |
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| In most jurisdictions, an injured employee must make a claim for workers' compensation within a specified time. By imposing a time limitation on filing a claim, the states have attempted to protect employers from old or stale claims that would be difficult to adequately investigate and defend. An employee's failure to file his claim promptly will result in the claim be denied, even if it is shown that the employer was not actually prejudiced by the delay. As a general rule, it is presumed that the employer is prejudiced by an untimely claim due to the inherent difficulty in defending old claims. More... |
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| Claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act |
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| According to the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), an employee who may be covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act should take certain actions if he is injured. More... |
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| Disability Under the "Odd-Lot" Doctrine |
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| The "odd-lot" doctrine is an avenue by which a worker may be found to be totally disabled based on unemployability rather than just the degree to which he is injured. It provides that, although a worker is not completely unable to work, his condition is such that he will not be regularly employed in any reasonably stable area of the labor market. The hallmark of placement in the "odd-lot" category is a job prospect that is irregular and unpredictable. More... |
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