On November 2, 2012, the Sixth Circuit handed down a second opinion within the last six months in which it held that plaintiffs might have a remedy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. secs. 1961(1)(B), 1962(c), and 1964(c), against their employers, the employers' claims administrators and medical doctors for allegedly [...]
Category: Workers’ Compensation Cases
Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Wage-Loss Benefits Awards and Requires Proof to Demonstrate Entitlement to Continuing Benefits
I argued this case in July before the Court of Appeals. Â The decision, although split 2-1, with Judge Saad concurring in the result only, reversed an Appellate Commission decision which, after two prior remands, suddenly concluded that the magistrates never had jurisdiction to consider GM's argument that Plaintiff was not entitled to workers' compensation benefits [...]
Proof of Continuing Inability to Earn Wages Required to Avoid Burden to Prove Lack of Wage-Earning Capacity — Where Claimant’s Condition was Sufficiently Improved “Non-Compliance with Stokes is No Longer Excused”
This is an interesting case, in which the Court of Appeals affirmed the Michigan Workers Compensation Appellate Commission's (WCAC) decision, in part, on the failure of a workers' compensation claimant to prove a continuing inability to earn wages after evidence established he could return to work at a wage-earning capacity (even if that capacity was [...]