The Oregon Court of Appeals issued-decision August 30, 2017, in the case of Greenblatt vs. Symantec Corporation,[1] affirmed the Board’s Order on Review that claimant waived or failed to preserve several key arguments that, if considered, might easily have persuaded the court to rule the other way. The court also determined that the way the case […]

A recent Board case, In Re Summer Cook, 69 Van Natta 1227 (2017), may serve to narrow the broad coverage of injuries typically deemed compensable under the traveling employee doctrine. The facts of the case are simple: Claimant, a flight attendant, sustained an injury to her right lower extremity while participating in an exercise class […]

In Street v. Weyerhaeuser Company,[1] decided on August 10, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court held that expert medical testimony is not required in occupational disease claims to prove that the conditions of an injured worker’s employment are distinctive. A medical expert’s testimony need only demonstrate proximate causation. By way of background: under the Industrial Insurance […]

On September 15, 2016, the Washington Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals in Birrueta v. Department of Labor and Industries,[1] and determined that the Department or self-insured employers may recoup overpaid benefits to an injured worker despite what appears to have been a final and binding compensation order in the event the order was […]

An Oregon legislative bill that allows the Director of Department of Consumer and Business Services under certain circumstances to appoint a two- or three-member medical arbiter panel has become law. The bill was signed into law by Oregon Governor Kate Brown on May 17, 2017, and will take effect on January 1, 2018. The Department […]