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Practice Area: Workers’ Compensation

Attorneys Aaron Ashcraft And John C. Webb Prevailed On A Res Judicata Argument, Obtaining Summary Judgment In A Workers’ Compensation Case

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Attorneys Aaron Ashcraft and John C. Webb recently obtained summary judgment in a workers’ compensation action pending in Bessemer Alabama. The summary judgment asserted a novel res judicata argument, and was based on the proposition that a Plaintiff cannot recover benefits after previously asserting, and settling, a claim for permanent total disability benefits against the…
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Trial Court Not Bound By Impairment Ratings Assigned By Treating Physician

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In Tuscaloosa County v. Beville, 28 ALW 170-3 (2171022), 4/19/2019, Employee Chaka Beville (“Beville”) slipped and fell while working in the course and scope of her employment at the Tuscaloosa County jail in 2014, injuring her left wrist.  She was treated by her authorized treating physician, Dr. Buckley, who performed surgery and later ordered a…
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The Alabama Court Of Civil Appeals Reverses Pain Management Order By Trial Court

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In Ex parte Trusswalk, Inc., No. 2180266, 2019 WL 1415997 (Ala. Civ. App.), the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals reviewed a trial court’s order directing an employer to provide pain management treatment for a workers’ compensation claimant. In Trusswalk, an employee filed a lawsuit against his employer alleging a lower back injury resulting from a…
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The Alabama Supreme Court Reverses Prior Precedent And Clarifies Venue In A Workers’ Compensation Action Against A Foreign Corporation

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Venue for actions against corporations, both domestic and foreign, are governed by Ala. Code §6-3-7(a)(3) (1975). The statute provides an action may be brought against a corporation in “the county in which the plaintiff resided, or if the plaintiff is an entity other than an individual, where the plaintiff had its principal office in this…
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Sia K Newman Succeeds At Trial In Challenging Plaintiff’s Claim Of 100 Percent Permanent And Total Disability

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Employee Joseph Fields, (“Fields”) filed a Complaint against his employer Sexton Lawn & Landscape, for workers’ compensation benefits relating to right leg and lower back injuries he allegedly received from a brown recluse spider bite on August 13, 2015, while in the course and scope of his employment with Sexton Lawn & Landscape.  Fields claimed…
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The Court Of Civil Appeals Confirms That An Evidentiary Hearing Must Be Conducted Before A Trial Judge Can Compel Medical Treatment

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In Ex parte Sears Roebuck and Co., 27 ALW 20-6 (2170632), 5/11/2018, the employee, Jeffrey Donaldson, (“Donaldson”), filed a Complaint for workers’ compensation benefits against his employer, Sears Roebuck and Co. (“Sears”) alleging that he suffered a compensable injury to his back while repairing an air-ventilation unit in 2016.  Donaldson received authorized treatment for his…
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Supreme Court Rules In Venue Matter Determining That Interest Of Justice Overrides Initial Selection Of The Forum

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Stephen Hrobowski (“Hrobowski”) was involved in a motor vehicle accident in Montgomery County, Alabama in 2015 wherein his vehicle collided with a vehicle being operated by Kevin Ledyard (“Ledyard”).  The impact of this collision caused Ledyard’s vehicle to strike a vehicle being operated by Roosevelt McCorvey (“McCorvey”). At the time of the subject accident, McCorvey…
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The 10th Circuit Court Of Appeals Found Alj’s For The Securities And Exchange Commission To Be In Violation Of The Appointments Clause, Which Could Potentially Upend The Black Lung Benefits Act

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An opinion from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Bandimere v. Sec. & Exch. Comm’n, 844 F.3d 1168 (10th Cir. 2016), has the potential to substantially upend the Black Lung Benefits Act, particularly as it concerns authority of Administrative Law Judges to decided cases under the Black Lung Benefit Act. In Bandimere, the 10th Circuit…
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The Alabama Court Of Civil Apeals Clarifies What Costs Are Recoverable By A Prevailing Party In A Workers’ Compensation Case

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Section 25–5–89 of Alabama’s Workers’ Compensation Act provides a trial court the discretion to tax costs incurred by an injured party in pursuing their claim against an employer. However, this discretion is not unfettered and in Ex parte Ampro Prod., Inc., No. 2160818, 2017 WL 4563053, at *1 (Ala. Civ. App. Oct. 13, 2017), the…
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Supervisors’ Failure To Install A Safer Saw That Was On The Premises Is Not Equivalent To A Removal Of A Safety Guard For Purposes Of Liability Under The Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act

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In Saarinen v. Hall, 26 ALW 36-8 (1160066), 9/1/2017, the Supreme Court held that the failure of the employee’s supervisors to install a safer saw that was on the employer’s premises was not the equivalent of removing a safety guard from an existing saw so as to subject the supervisors to liability under the Alabama…
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