By Fred J. Lewis We have now had some time to reflect on the adoption of the Sixth Edition of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. There were criticisms to the Fifth Edition in that it awarded too much impairment that was actually disability. One of the…
By Fred J. Lewis In Green v. Industrial Special Indemnity Fund (Second Injury Fund), the Claimant was a sawyer who was struck by a falling tree. The Second Injury Fund appealed from the Idaho Industrial Commission’s determination that Green was totally and permanently disabled and that his disability was due…
By Fred J. Lewis On March 7, 2012, the Idaho Supreme Court decided the case of Brown v. The Home Depot. In this case the claimant had slipped on the snow covered steps while working for Home Depot and hurt his back. This Idaho Workers’ Compensation claimant had significant preexisting…
By Fred Lewis In Chadwick, VA. Multi-state Electric, LLC. 159 Idaho 451 (2015) the Idaho Supreme Court held that the Claimant had failed to prove that the May 26th, 2012 caused damage to the physical structure of the body and the Claimant had failed to give the employer timely notice…
By Fred Lewis In Fairchild v. Kentucky Fried Chicken, 159 Idaho 208 (2015), on November 13, 2004 16 year old Terence Fairchild was employed by Kentucky Fried Chicken as a cook. He was carrying garbage to a dumpster when he slipped on ice and fell, striking his knees on a…
By Fred J. Lewis On October 8, 2012, Richard Job, M.D. was working as an internal medicine doctor and primary care physician for DRNE Clinic/Heritage Health. On June 17, 2013 Dr. Job presented to Dr. Patrick Mullen complaining of sudden onset right thumb pain. Eventually, the infection was determined to…
By Fred J. Lewis In October of 2006 the Claimant, Thomas C. Millard, fell 25’ on to a cement pad and injured his back, left leg, neck and shoulder. As a result of the accident the Claimant also suffered a serious brain injury. As a part of his treatment the…
By Fred J. Lewis On June 8, 1992 the Idaho Supreme Court filed their decision in the case Osick v. Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, 122 Idaho 457, 835 P. 2d 1268 (1992). Mr Osick was an employee of the Ada County Highway District from 1959 until he was…
By Fred Lewis There are occasions when a third party hurts or injures someone while they are working. The injured Idaho worker can bring a claim against these negligent third parties. Under Idaho Code §72-223 the Idaho Worker’s Compensation Insurance Company has a subrogated claim or right to reimbursement from…
By: Fred J. Lewis I have been practicing workers’ compensation law for almost 30 years. It comes as a surprise to most injured workers how long their Idaho workers’ compensation case takes to get resolved. The first hurdle that we have in every Idaho worker’s compensation case is that the…