On November 8, 2023, Ben Erickson secured a defense verdict in an arbitration hearing in front of the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission. The case arose out of a debilitating condition suffered by one of Erickson’s client’s former employees. Specifically, the claimant alleged to have sustained a significant cumulative injury to his neck and back during […]
The plaintiff was hospitalized to treat her prolonged dizziness. While medicated, she stood up and fell in her hospital room, suffering injuries. She sued the hospital, several physicians, and other healthcare providers involved in her treatment, alleging their “professional negligence” caused her injuries. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the […]
On February 5, 2018, the claimant, Rosa Chavez, sustained a work injury in the course of her employment as a lab technician at MS Technology, LLC. An MRI revealed Chavez had sustained a “full thickness rotator cuff tear that has retracted to the level of the glenoid, severe AC arthrosis, tendonitis and tearing of the […]
After injuring his right hand at work, claimant filed a workers’ compensation action against his employer, seeking healing period benefits after he was placed at maximum medical improvement (MMI) by an authorized doctor. He also sought penalty benefits for the employer’s failure to pay benefits after he reached MMI through the arbitration hearing. Following an […]
The Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission has issued an updated Order extending the suspension of all in-person regular contested hearings before the agency from January 31, 2022, through April 29, 2022. Regular contested hearings that were scheduled to occur during that period will be conducted via internet-based video unless the parties timely file a motion to continue. […]
The Iowa workers’ compensation commissioner ordered an employer and its workers’ compensation insurance carrier to pay a $39,000 penalty for failing to pay an injured worker approximately $80,000 in healing period benefits. The commissioner found the employer and insurance carrier terminated benefits without a reasonable cause and awarded a 50 percent penalty in accordance with […]
The Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission issued an updated Order on February 2, 2021, extending the suspension of all in-person regular contested hearings before the agency from March 19, 2021, through at least June 18, 2021. Regular hearings that were scheduled to occur during that period will be conducted via video conference, using CourtCall, unless the […]
Andrew Hall and Aaron Lindebak obtained a summary judgment dismissal for a factory supervisor sued for gross negligence. The case arose from a catastrophic industrial accident that occurred as a result of a malfunctioning machine. In Iowa, the sole remedy for employees injured in work related accidents is to bring a worker’s compensation claim against […]
Grefe & Sidney is already handling Coronavirus/COVID-19 related litigation. Countless businesses have been affected by this pandemic, causing disruptions with both demand and supply. Our firm is involved in defending claims that business interruption clauses contained in many insurance policies should be triggered by pandemic related/government ordered closures. In addition, the first of what is […]
Anita Dhar Miller successfully argued in an Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission hearing that a claimant who alleged permanent disability resulting from a work injury failed to demonstrate so by a preponderance of the evidence; as a result, the deputy did not award claimant any benefits. Anita represented claimant’s former employer and their workers’ compensation carrier. […]