Workers' Compensation

Class Actions before California's Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB)
Zurich U.S., et al. v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, Jack Hablian, et al. 
Case No. S145570
California Supreme Court

NCLC filed an amicus letter brief supporting thirty-three workers' compensation insurers, self-insured employers, government entities and third party administrators who are challenging the constitutionality of the WCAB's decision to adjudicate class actions.  The insurers are defending against a class action filed by eleven applicants, on behalf of a proposed class consisting of anyone who had a compensable workers' compensation claim since 1990 and is potentially entitled to interest on any delayed workers' compensation payments already paid.  NCLC argues that if the class action is permitted to proceed, it will create a substantial drain on the WCAB's resources, increase costs for employers and insurers, and may open the door to abusive class actions.  If companies are exposed to potential class actions every time there is a worksite injury, the cost of insurance coverage is likely to skyrocket and the workers' compensation system will become even more overburdened.

Amicus letter brief filed 9/12/06. Petition for Review denied 10/18/06.

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Workers' Compensation, Common Law, and Exposure to Hazardous Materials
Fullen, et al. v. Philips Electronics North America Corporation, et al.
No. 1-C-319 and No. 3-C-63
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals agreed to consider whether employees may seek redress for work-related claims outside the workers' compensation system.   Approximately 1,500 current and former employees of a glass and light bulb manufacturing plant in West Virginia claim they were harmed by exposure to hazardous substances while at work.  In its brief, NCLC stated the lower court decision to allow plaintiffs to seek remedies under common tort law was wrong. Rather, NCLC pointed out that the Workers' Compensation Act was enacted to address such claims.

Amicus brief filed 2/21/06.  Decision 6/29/06.

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Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA)
Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Morganti
No. 05-907
Supreme Court of the United States

NCLC urges the Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision awarding LHWCA benefits when the employee's work had no connection to maritime activity. NCLC argues that the Second Circuit's decision to apply LHWCA to non-maritime workers any time they find themselves over navigable waters in the course of their employment is problematic for all non-maritime businesses, particularly those who will be exposed to potential tort actions and criminal liability if they do not provide the LHWCA coverage Congress did not intend them to provide.

Amicus brief filed 4/24/06

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Workers' Compensation and Asbestos Litigation
Rehm v. Navistar Int'l Corp.
No. 2005-SC-000242-DGE
Kentucky Supreme Court
 
The Kentucky Supreme Court has granted review to consider the proper standard governing whether an independent contractor's employee's work is "regular or recurrent" in nature so as to support resolution of a workplace injury claim by the workers' compensation system. In its brief, after describing the "asbestos litigation crisis" in the courts today, NCLC explains the rationale behind the workers' compensation system and the importance to the business community of not upsetting the balance it struck between the employee's need for recovery and the employer's need for predictability.
 
Motion for leave to join amicus brief filed 1/06/06.