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Case Summaries

Government Benefits

[06/29] Amberman v. Shinseki
In an action involving the appropriate disability rating for a veteran, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims' judgment upholding the finding that plaintiff's disorders had properly been rated together is affirmed where 38 C.F.R. sec. 4.14 prohibits separately rating the same symptoms merely because those symptoms have multiple causes.

[06/23] Poppa v. Astrue
In an action seeking Social Security disability benefits, the denial of benefits is affirmed where: 1) res judicata did not preclude Defendant from denying benefits because the previous ALJ's decision did not constitute a final decision; and 2) the ALJ properly considered the relevant factors and the evidence in the record in making his credibility determination.

[06/23] US v. Gupta
In the government's appeal from Defendant's sentence in a Medicare fraud prosecution, the sentence is vacated where the District Court: 1) failed to calculate loss and erroneously reduced Defendant's offense level by two points for acceptance of responsibility; and 2) demonstrated great difficulty in putting aside his prior conclusions about the merits of this prosecution.

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Workers' Comp

[06/11] Simpson v. Empire Truck Lines, Inc.
In an action arising out of a truck accident under the Texas Workers Compensation Act (TWCA), judgment for Defendant is affirmed where the driver of the truck was not Defendant's statutory employee under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, and thus Defendant was not vicariously liable under the TWCA.

[06/08] Zaragoza v. Ibarra
In an civil action brought by a worker against a homeowner, trial court's grant of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's injury does not fall within the exclusive purview of the workers' compensation laws despite his employer's status as an unlicensed contractor as defendant had not worked 52 hours in the 90 days prior to the date of the injury specified in Labor Code sec. 3352(h); and 2) defendant was not negligent, as plaintiff's injury was entirely his own fault and there was no want of ordinary care taken by the plaintiff-homeowner.

[05/11] Smith v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Board
In a dispute involving attorney's fees, Court of Appeals judgment is reversed where Labor Code sec. 4607 authorizes an award of attorney fees to employees who successfully resist efforts to terminate their award of continuing medical treatment, but does not permit an award of fees to employees who successfully challenge the denial of specific treatment requests.

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