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Case Summaries

Government Benefits

[06/26] John B. v. Goetz
In a class action suit related to Tennessee's TeenCare program seeking to enforce certain provisions of the Social Security Act, defendant's request for mandamus relief from two discovery orders is granted in part where: 1) disobeying the order and appealing a citation for contempt would not be an adequate means to attain relief; 2) the orders will cause defendants to suffer damage or prejudice that cannot be corrected on appeal; 3) the district court abused its discretion since it failed to account properly for the significant privacy and confidentiality concerns in the case; and 4) there were issues of federalism and comity that are not present in typical civil litigation.

[06/25] Clark v. Astrue
In proceedings arising from a Social Security disability benefits case, an order denying in part claimant's attorney's request for attorney's fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 406(b) is reversed and remanded for reconsideration where, contrary to the lower court's ruling, the plain text of section 406(b) limits only the amount of attorney's fees awarded under section 406(b), and not the combined fees awarded under both sections 406(a) and 406(b).

[06/24] Rossello v. Astrue
In a suit arising from a denial of Social Security "childhood disability" benefits, a decision affirming the denial is reversed and the case remanded to the Social Security Administration where: 1) there was substantial evidence that claimant's work for a family member was subsidized under the Social Security Administration's regulations; and 2) almost all of claimant's earnings appear to have been subsidized and lead to the conclusion that the unsubsidized earnings fell below the 190 dollar threshold to trigger a presumption that she did not engage in substantial gainful activity.

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Workers' Comp

[07/03] State Comp. Ins. Fund v. WCAB
The California Supreme Court finds that the Legislature intended to require employers to conduct utilization review when considering requests for medical treatment, and employers may not use Labor Code section 4062 as an alternative method for disputing employees' treatment requests.

[07/03] BNSF Ry. Co. v. Swanson
Provisions of Minnesota Statute sections 609.849(a)(1) and (a)(2), governing a railroad's treatment of injured workers, are both preempted by the Internal Control Plans regulations adopted by the Federal Railroad Administration pursuant to the Federal Railroad Safety Act.

[07/02] Anderson v. Commerce Construction Services, Inc.
In an action for negligence arising out of a Nebraska subcontractor's employee's injuries while performing demolition work in Kansas, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) Kansas courts would have applied the lex loci delicti choice of law rule whereby the state where the tort occurred governs the merits of the litigation; 2) Kansas courts have only applied section 185 of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws to cases dealing with subrogation; and 3) application of section 184's most significant relationship test would result in defendant prevailing.

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