Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Workers’ Compensation

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Quick Word on Plan of Text

• Oriented towards STUDENTS• Deviations from “classical” presentation of material• Bias toward the practice of workers’ comp

– Much less to say about policy (except in context of cases)– Much less to say about history (except in context of cases)– Practice digressions whenever possible

• Very little interest in covering splits of authority “for show”: let’s talk about uniformity

• Unabashedly claimant oriented—but covers the range of arguments

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Big Picture—Workplace Injuries

• Someone gets hurt—who is going to pay?• Who pays if the law does nothing?• Who pays if handled in tort?• Who pays if handled with insurance?– Concept of risk pool

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Historical Development

• I won’t repeat the text here but one word says it all:

–RAILROADS

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Exclusive Remedy Rule

• If there is nothing else you get from this class . . .

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

O’Rourke (NY 1976)

• Minor illegally employed injured in course of employment

• Why did court write this opinion? What was the essential idea?

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Statutory Construction

• Liberally construed to accomplish the beneficent purposes of the Act

• Strictly construed so as not to favor the interests of employers or employees

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Historical Perspective

• Legislatures often have very limited conception of the magnitude of the societal “quid pro quo”

• How one comes down on this question often has a lot to do with what one REALLY knows about the deep policy

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Fisher (NJ 1921)

• Employer paid employee’s transportation going home

• The problem? • Is injury suffered while in transit covered by

“the coming and going rule”?• How did court resolve the problem?

Copyright © 2014 Michael C. Duff. All rights reserved.

Superior Industries (Ark 2000)

• Employer argued that it should be relieved of paying workers’ comp benefits because of employee’s alleged misconduct leading to being fired

• Subtext: was employee’s misconduct directly related to incapacity for work created by injury?

• Court’s answer to question of whether benefits could be suspended?

The full set of PowerPoint slides is available upon adoption. Email crutan@cap-press.com

for more information.