Practice: Workers’ Compensation

• Workers' Compensation

  Are Franchisee’s Entitled to Workers’ Compensation Benefits?

  • July 25, 2016
  • By Allen & Gooch

      Who is entitled to Workers’ Compensation Benefits? The Workers’ Compensation Act provides an exclusive remedy for an employee against his employer or co-employee where the terms of the statute are met. The compromise allows the injured employee to recover benefits pursuant to the statute, but the employer (and/or co-employee) will be immune from […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Spotting and Successfully Defending Claims Against Malingerers

  • May 4, 2016
  • By Allen & Gooch

  Patients who malinger, or exaggerate illness, can be a problem for health and claims management professionals. Malingering is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) as the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms, motivated by external incentives such as avoiding work or military duty; […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Bad Faith Claims in Mississippi Could Affect Other Jurisdictions

  • March 30, 2016
  • By Allen & Gooch

  Mississippi Bad Faith Claims Can Affect Employers and Carriers in Other jurisdictions With companies operating in multiple states, navigating interstate laws has become increasingly tricky. This is especially true in the worker’s compensation arena where an employer can be sued for benefits in its state of operation, the state where the injury occurred, or the […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Course and Scope of Employment – Always Clocked In

  • February 3, 2016
  • By Stephen G. Collura of Associate, New Orleans

  Recently, the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeals determined that an employee was in the course and scope of her employment when she sustained injuries from a criminal assailant.   The employee, a home health caregiver, normally worked from 8 am until 5 pm. On the day of the incident, the employee accompanied a client […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Applying Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Law to Out-of-State Work Accident

  • January 18, 2016
  • By Allen & Gooch

  Louisiana Workers’ Compensation laws can be applied to work injuries that occur while an employee is working outside of Louisiana.  Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1035.1 provides extraterritorial coverage to an employee injured while working outside the territorial limits of Louisiana.  Specifically, this statute provides in pertinent part:   (1) If an employee, while working outside the […]

• Workers' Compensation

  When is a lie evidence of fraud under the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act?

  • October 13, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  False Statements and Misrepresentations May Equal Fraud Under La. R.S. 23:1208, it is unlawful for any person “for the purpose of obtaining or defeating any benefit or payment under the provisions of [the Workers’ Compensation Act], either for himself or for any other person, to willfully make a false statement or misrepresentation.”  Crafted to discourage […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Employers face a steep burden to prove an employee’s “willful intent to injure”

  • May 27, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Workers Compensation Defenses Available to Employers Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1081 includes a list of various defenses available to an employer faced with an injured employee. The first defense provides that “No compensation shall be allowed for an injury caused… by the injured employee’s willful intention to injure himself.” Must Prove Intent to Self-Injure by Preponderance […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Medical Treatment Guidelines Apply to all medical treatment after July 13, 2011

  • May 16, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  On May 7, 2014, The Supreme Court of Louisiana issued a decision holding that La. R.S. 23:1203.1 (AKA “Medical Treatment Guidelines”) apply to all requests for medical treatment made after July 13, 2011(the effective date of the statute), regardless of the accident date. The Supreme Court reviewed the facts of Church Mut. Ins. Co. v. […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Workers Comp: Employee’s Right to Select a Treating Physician

  • April 2, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  First Circuit Rules that Employee’s Right to Select a Treating Physician is Mandatory In Nelson v. Windmill, the court found that LSA-R.S. 23:1121B(1) made an employee’s right to select a treating physician mandatory and without exception. The First Circuit added that there was no time frame for exercising that right and there is no requirement […]

• Workers' Compensation

  Louisiana Workers’ Compensation – What sets us apart

  • January 29, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch

  As we enter 2014, the future of Louisiana looks bright.  With continued growth in many areas apart from the traditional oil and gas industry, Louisiana is starting to attract the attention of many companies looking to take advantage of the opportunities offered in a place we are proud to call home. How Louisiana Workers’ Compensation […]