I've just published a very short piece on the above-captioned topic in a just released issue of the American Bar Association's Journal of Labor & Employment law. You can access the piece here.Michael C. Duff
Workers’ Compensation Law Prof Blog
Latest from Workers’ Compensation Law Prof Blog - Page 5
Letter to Congress From Labor and Activist Groups on Gig Economy — Workers’ Compensation Implications
To state the obvious, continued contraction of employee status in the national economy diminishes in importance all domains of employment law. Why would anyone need workers' compensation if we did not have statutory employees? The glib response to this concern…
“Red” States, the National Labor Relations Act, and Covid Vaccination Mandates
In recent posts I have noted that disability and medical costs arising from adverse reactions to Covid vaccinations are likely to be covered either by workers’ compensation (when the employer requires vaccination as a condition of employment) or perhaps by…
Hustling Through the New DOL FLSA Employee Test – Will it Change Anything?
The Bloomberg Daily Labor Report says, here behind a paywall, that yesterday “the U.S. Labor Department sent to the White House for review a high-profile final rule to ease employers’ use of independent contractors, continuing the Trump administration’s deregulatory push…
Congress (Apparently) Steps Back From Abyss of Nationalized Wrongdoer Liability Immunity
The (woefully inadequate) $900 billion Covid relief bill will not nationalize wrongdoer liability immunity. (Negligence law imposes liability on an actor for causing injury to another by being unreasonably risky as to the other’s safety—the actor is a wrongdoer not…
Coronavirus Vaccine Injuries May Be Covered by the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program
I fear that very soon we may be facing vaccine injuries in connection with the dispensing of essentially experimental Covid vaccines. I certainly hope it does not happen, but experience is a cruel teacher. In addition to potential workers’ compensation…
Will Covid Federal Civil Immunity Preempt California OSHA Covid Rules?
UPDATE: Some folks are telling me that liability immunity is being pulled from the table. I hope that is true, but let's just say I'm not taking this post down and won't be holding my breath, either.It appears that one…
Holiday Book-Giving: Top Eight Books, 2020, for the Workers’ Compensation Professional (One Teacher’s Selections)
Here are my humble recommendations with regard to the best books for the workers’ compensation professional for 2020! Soul Full of Coal Dust (Little Brown 2020) by journalist Chris Hamby, is the book of the year for professionals…
Workers’ Compensation Coverage of Adverse Reactions from Employer-Required Covid-19 Vaccination?
A member of the press asked me today whether illness caused by an adverse reaction to an employer-required Covid-19 vaccine would be covered under workers’ compensation. Suppose, in other words, the employer says I cannot come back to work unless…
Bipartisan Consensus?: Businesses (and Others?) May Negligently Expose You to Coronavirus with Impunity
If you work in the Gig economy, you are not (or so the Giggers contend) an employee, and are therefore not entitled to workers’ compensation (among other employee rights). The same is true if you are any other flavor of…