NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
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Anybody remember Blazing Saddles? The Court will hear argument from Seabright Insurance Company that section 401.011(12) of the Labor Code, regarding course and scope of employment, is ambiguous. A worker was driving other employees in a company truck from a hotel paid for by the company to a jobsite when the truck was struck by a semi, leading to his death. Seabright denied the beneficiary’s claim for death benefits because the worker was traveling at the time of the accident and was thus not in the course and scope of employment. In its attempt to avoid paying death benefits to the deceased worker’s beneficiary, Seabright argues thatLeordeanu v. American Protection Insurance Company has led to confusion over section 401.011(12) among Texas’ appellate courts. The Court will determine if the ‘but for’ test is appropriate in this situation; that is, but for his employment, the deceased worker would not have been in the situation that led to his death. The case isSeabright Insurance Company v. Maxima Lopez, appealed from the Fourth Court of Appeals, Cause No. 01-12-00863-CV and the 229th District Court of Starr County, Cause No. DC-08-484.