FL - Court Upholds Disqualification of Law Firm Representing Firefighter's Widow
08/22/2025 | 0
A Florida appellate court upheld a judge's decision to disqualify a law firm from continuing to represent a firefighter’s widow due to a conflict of interest created by the hiring of a new attorney.
Eric Siena worked for Orange County Fire Rescue for 20 years. He was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in April 2020 and died in May 2021.
Siena’s widow filed a claim for death benefits, represented by the firm of Bichler & Longo PLLC.
Judge of Compensation Claims Neal P. Pitts denied the claim, and the widow appealed.
The 1st District Court of Appeal vacated the OJC...
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A divided Florida appellate court upheld a determination that a worker was not entitled to indemnity benefits because neither he nor his employer had reported any income he received in his two weeks on the job.
Case: Roscoe v. S&A Hauling Hilliard LLC, No. 1D2022-0055, 08/20/2025, published.
Facts: Lamont Roscoe worked for S&A Hauling Hilliard LLC, driving a dump truck owned by S&A to haul material between a port and a dump. He was paid $70 per load and treated as an independent contractor.
After two weeks on the job, Roscoe suffered injuries when his truck tipped...
The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the last in a series of injuries to a longtime meat cutter was permanently and totally disabling and that the Industrial Special Indemnity Fund was not liable for any benefits.
Case: Westman v. Industrial Special Indemnity Fund, No. 51719, 08/20/2025, published.
Facts: Douglas Westman is a third-generation meat cutter with more than 30 years of experience.
In 1999, Westman suffered an acute abdominal hernia, thoracic spine injuries and right shoulder injuries when a stack of frozen turkeys fell on him. Westman underwent multiple surgeri...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding that a worker sustained the occupational disease of asthma in the course of and resulting from employment in the mining industry.
Case: Blackhawk Mining LLC v. Woods, No. 25-ICA-63, 08/06/2025, published.
Facts: Harold Woods Jr. worked for Blackhawk Mining LLC. He filed a workers’ compensation claim in June 2022, alleging that he sustained an injury to his lungs due to exposure to coal dust, magnetite, welding fumes and flocculant at hazardous levels while working in Blackhawk’s prep plant.
Dr. Rob Keith s...
The California Assembly Appropriations Committee unanimously passed bills to bolster the ability of the Department of Industrial Relations to recover money from illegally uninsured employers and align death benefits for first responders with changes made by the Affordable Care Act.
The committee on Wednesday voted 15-0 to pass SB 447 and SB 847. Analyses of both measures project costs that would be "negligible" or "minor and absorbable."
SB 447, by Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, would extend how long minor dependents of deceased first responders can receive health benefits...
The New Jersey Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau announced that it is restoring computer systems that were taken offline earlier in August due to suspicious activity.
"We immediately took steps to investigate and determined that we were experiencing a cyber event," the bureau said. "Out of an abundance of caution, systems were taken offline, and we engaged external data privacy counsel and a third-party forensic investigation firm to conduct a thorough review."
NJCRIB said it has reset passwords, reviewed user accounts and access controls, updated security protect...
A California appeals court rejected a request to wait until the state Supreme Court clarifies the deadline for the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to act on petitions for reconsideration, and said the 60-day window can be disregarded when the three elements of equitable tolling are satisfied.
As such, the 6th District Court of Appeals said the WCAB did not err when it granted Lance D. Miraco's petition for reconsideration more than 60 days after it was filed, substituting its findings for those of the workers' compensation judge and concluding that the claim was not time-...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld an assessment of penalties against an employer for failing to pay a pharmacy service the full amount awarded by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Medical Fee Review Section.
Case: Day-Timers Inc. v. Horton (WCAB), No. 538 C.D. 2024, 08/15/2025, published.
Facts and procedural history: Rhonda Horton worked for Day-Timers Inc. She injured her back at work in 1998 and began receiving monthly prescription medications from Alliance Medication Service LLC.
Between July 2022 and January 2023, Alliance submitted five applications for review to t...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his fall from a ladder.
Case: Buzzetta v. NYU Hospitals Center, No. 2023-10382, 08/13/2025, published.
Facts: Salvatore Buzzetta allegedly suffered injuries when he fell from a ladder while performing demolition work at a property owned by NYU Hospitals Center.
Procedural history: Buzzetta filed suit against NYU, asserting a claim for a violation of Labor Law Section 240(1).
Section 240(1) imposes absolute liability on property owners, general contractors or their agents for failing t...
A federal appellate court ruled that an insurance company had a duty to indemnify a property owner in a state court action by an injured worker, but it was not liable for a fee award.
Case: Liberty Insurance Corp. v. Hudson Excess Insurance Co., No. 23-1208, 08/13/2025, published.
Facts and procedural history: Liberty Insurance Corp. provided coverage to 45 John NY LLC, the owner of a property in New York.
The property owner hired Avacon Management LLC to serve as the general contractor to convert the commercial building into a residential space with ground-floor retail. Avacon s...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled that the temporary total disability benefits sent to a worker after she had returned to work did not constitute overpayments that an insurance carrier could recover.
Case: Macy’s Corporate Services Inc. v. Wolford, No. 25-ICA-48, 08/06/2025, published.
Facts: Darlene Wolford worked for Macy’s Corporate Services Inc. She suffered an injury at work in August 2022, and the insurance carrier for Macy’s accepted the injury as compensable.
Wolford returned to work on May 9, 2024, but continued to receive temporary total d...
A Texas appellate court said a trial court erred in denying a motion to compel arbitration by finding that a woman suing over the death of her unborn son was a transportation worker and exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act.
The 14th District Court of Appeals said there was insufficient evidence for the trial court to conclude that Elizabeth Martinez Silva was transporting goods across state lines.
The arbitration agreement Martinez signed when she started working for Builders FirstSource, later renamed as BFS Group LLC, clearly delegates to an arbitrator the authority...
A bill that would allow independent bill review to resolve disputes related to contract discounts or reductions is heading to the California Senate floor after a determination that the measure would have insignificant costs for the state.
The Senate Appropriations Committee moved Assembly Bill 1048 to the floor under Senate Rule 28.8, which allows the committee chair to bypass a hearing after determining that a bill has insignificant state costs.
The bill, by Phillip Chen, D-Brea, would allow providers to use IBR to challenge the application of a contractual discount or reduction. ...
The New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division upheld an award of benefits to a custodian with a long history of health ailments, as well as a determination that he was not permanently and totally disabled.
Leon Brooks worked for Rutgers as a custodian between 2000 and 2013.
Before he began working at Rutgers, Brooks had received benefits through settlements for a workers’ compensation claim in 1995 and 1996. He had prior surgeries on each knee as well. Due to his learning disabilities, Brooks was unable to read or write, and he always worked physical jobs.
Brooks passe...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his fall from a ladder.
Case: Batis v. 85 Jay Street (Brooklyn) LLC, No. 2023-12369, 08/13/2025, published.
Facts: Omar Batis was injured at a construction site on property owned by 85 Jay Street (Brooklyn) LLC. According to Batis, he was standing on a ladder while installing drywall when the ladder suddenly moved, causing him to fall.
New Line Structures & Development LLC was the construction manager for the project.
Procedural history: Batis filed suit against...
