Call Us 919-240-4054Extended unemployment benefits — providing for up to 99 weeks of benefits — have expired again because of Republican obstruction. Up to 2 million long-term job-seekers could lose their benefits by the end of the year. Coverage can be found here. Once again, Republicans oppose helping the unemployed in the name of the budget deficit, […]
NC Supreme Court denies review in Taylor v. Town of Garner; win for plaintiff
The North Carolina Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for discretionary review (PDR) in Taylor v. Town of Garner. The Court of Appeals decided earlier this year that Officer Taylor is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits from the Town of Garner for the injury he suffered while working as a mounter officer at an N.C. […]
EEOC issues new GINA regulations
On November 9, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final regulations implementing the employment-related provisions in Title II of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). Details on the new regulations can be found at the Federal Register and at the EEOC. Under Title II of GINA, it is illegal to discriminate […]
Latest COA decisions on workers’ compensation
The North Carolina Court of Appeals published two decisions on workers’ compensation this month. The first case, Kingston v. Lyon Construction, concerns workers’ compensation liens and third-party recoveries. The plaintiff was exposed to asbestos on the job and developed illness as a result. He was awarded workers’ compensation benefits, and brought and settled tort cases against manufacturers […]
NC Court of Appeals rejects workers’ comp claim as time-barred
In an opinion issued two weeks ago, Johnston v. Duke University Medical Center, the North Carolina Court of Appeals concluded that the plaintiff’s occupational disease workers’ compensation claim was time-barred. The plaintiff had been a nurse at Duke, and developed several conditions in her left foot: plantar fasciitis, tarsal tunnel syndrome, and Achilles tendinopathy. These conditions developed […]
Issues raised by new types of workplace drug testing
This New York Times article discusses an important employment issue that may become more prevelant: whether and how employers may test and discipline employees for using legal prescription drugs. As the article relates, drug testing like this is regulated in part by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In North Carolina, two other state statutes can […]
NC Court of Appeals rejects another Woodson claim
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued an opinion concerning the viability of plaintiff’s Woodson claim — a wrongful death tort action based on an injury sustained at work. In Valenzuela v. Pallet Express Inc., the Court once again rejected a Woodson in what seemed to be an egregious case. Typically, plaintiffs injured […]
Latest workers’ compensation opinion from NC Court of Appeals
On September 21, 2010, the North Carolina Court of Appeals released its latest batch of opinions, which included one published case on workers’ compensation. In Pope v. Johns Manville, the Court issued a second opinion in this case after granting defendants’ petition for rehearing. The Court’s first opinion in this case, issued earlier this year, […]
Valerie teaching at UNC and Wake Forest Law Schools
This semester Valerie Johnson is teaching at two law schools. At Wake Forest Law School, Valerie is co-teaching Workers’ Compensation: a study of the substantive and procedural elements of state mandated compensation systems for injured workers with an emphasis on the employer/employee relation, compensable injuries and occupational diseases, and the exclusivity of the remedy; additionally, these systems will be […]
Latest workers’ compensation decision from NC Court of Appeals
Earlier this week, the North Carolina Court of Appeals published its latest workers’ compensation decision in Hedges v. Wake County Public School System. In this case, the plaintiff had stumbled and fell when she walked into a workroom to make copies of payroll materials. The plaintiff did not trip on something; she simply stumbled and fell. Because of […]
