Work Injury Sign

Subrogating Employees’ Intentional Act Damage Recoveries From An Employer Or Co-Employee

The quid pro quo premise underlying the social compromise known as workers’ compensation is simple: an employee injured at work receives no-fault medical expenses and wage replacement indemnity benefits and, in exchange, the employer is given protection from employee lawsuits and a statutory right to be reimbursed from the tortfeasor who actually caused the work-related…

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Kansas Flag

Kansas Decision Reveals Danger of Not Intervening In Workers’ Compensation Third-Party Litigation

Kansas Decision Introduces Concept of “Statutory Deficit”. The Kansas Court of Appeals is holding class on why it is important to have subrogation counsel in workers’ compensation subrogation third-party cases – even in states which are favorable to carriers. In the 2020 case of Hawkins v. Southwest Kansas Co-op Service, 2020 WL 1649867 (Kan. App.…

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New Jersey Flag

New Jersey Says Workers’ Comp Carrier Gets Reimbursed Before Self-Insured Employer

City of Asbury Park v. Star Insurance Company, 2020 WL 3493526 (N.J. 2020). Large deductible workers’ compensation programs and policies with large self-insured retentions (SIR) were first introduced to the American insurance industry in the late 1980s with limited deductible options for medical and death benefits. Over time they have grown to become a key…

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New Jersey Flag

New Jersey Supreme Court Confirms That Workers’ Compensation Subrogation Is Not Limited By No-Fault Laws

New Jersey Transit Corp. v. Sanchez, 2020 WL 2374054 (N.J. 2020). On May 12, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court answered a long-standing subrogation question regarding whether a workers’ compensation carrier is entitled to subrogation and/or reimbursement from a third-party tortfeasor who is covered by New Jersey no-fault insurance, even though the employee does not…

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Chess Checkmate

Federal Tort Claims Act Subrogation

The federal government is everywhere. It employs nearly 9.1 million workers, which is nearly 6% of total U.S. workforce. This includes nearly 2.1 million federal employees, 4.1 million contract employees, 1.2 million grant employees, 1.3 million active duty military personnel, and more than 500,000 postal service employees. They operate trucks, construct highways, build buildings, drive…

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