Kentucky—Extra-Territorial Exclusive Remedy
On October 4, 2019, in Ontario LTD. d/b/a JDW International v. Mackey, the Kentucky Court of Appeals held that a Canadian employee injured in Kentucky while working for her Canadian employer is permitted to bring a civil suit in Kentucky for her injuries against the Canadian employer.
In its decision, the court relied on Kentucky statute 342.670(3) as providing workers compensation exclusive remedy protections for an employer from another state or Canada if, in part, the employee is “entitled to” workers compensation benefits under the employer’s domicile law.
The court found that, as Canadian law permits employees to reject workers compensation benefits in favor of proceeding with a civil action, and the ability of an employee to reject workers compensation is also an integral part of Kentucky law, the employee’s rejection of Canadian workers compensation benefits means that she was not “entitled to” them. Thus, the court determined that 342.670(3) did not provide exclusive remedy protections to the Canadian employer.
This decision could be appealed. NCCI will monitor for further developments.
Louisiana—Drug Test Admissibility for Benefit Denials
On October 1, 2019, the Supreme Court of Louisiana in Parson v. Truck Parts & Equipment, Inc., held that an unconfirmed drug test may not be used as evidence of fraud to deny workers compensation benefits under Louisiana statute 23:1208.
In reversing the appellate court, the supreme court ruled that in order to deny benefits, the evidence used to prove the disqualification must be competent. The court explained that it is undisputed that unconfirmed drug test results cannot be used to deny benefits under an intoxication defense pursuant 23:1081, and that it would be illogical to allow the same unconfirmed drug test results to be used as proof of fraud to deny benefits under 23:1208.
For more information on other cases monitored by NCCI’s Legal Division, visit previous Court Case Updates under INSIGHTS on ncci.com.
This article is provided solely as a reference tool to be used for informational purposes only. The information in this article shall not be construed or interpreted as providing legal or any other advice. Use of this article for any purpose other than as set forth herein is strictly prohibited.