by KPMLAW | May 24, 2016 | KPMBlog, News, Uncategorized
Idiopathic and unexplained accident cases are on the rise as more employees are taking medications for a myriad of health issues. An idiopathic accident is one where the injury is caused by a preexisting personal disease of the employee (diabetes, seizures, etc.) and can be compensable if the employment increases the dangerous effects of the condition. Typically, compensable idiopathic injuries are found in motor vehicle accident and fall from ladder cases. Unexplained injuries are not compensable because the claimant cannot prove that the injury arose out of the employment. In an unpublished decision, Burney-Vivens v Community Corrections Administration, the Court of Appeals addressed the idiopathic v. unexplained injury issue. In Burney-Vivens the claimant had a history of migraines. She had also sustained a compensable back injury in 2012 for which she was still taking medication. She was driving an employer provided car while on assignment for her employer. Because she was driving she did not take her back pain medication that day. She was involved in a single car accident in which her car left the road and went down an embankment. She testified that at a certain point in time on the trip, after driving past a sign for the Town of Boones Mill her vision diminished and started blurring. The next thing she remembered was crawling out of the car. She did not remember what caused her to run off the road. At the hearing, the claimant alleged that her accident was caused by an idiopathic condition of blurred vision due to her pre-existing migraine headaches. In the alternative, she alleged that she blacked out because of...
by KPMLAW | Apr 25, 2016 | KPMBlog, News, Uncategorized, Updates
Written by Chris Wilson, Esq. Edited by Rachel Riordan, Esq. A recent unpublished opinion by the Virginia Court of Appeals provides important guidance on what a claimant must show to prove that an injury “arose out of” his or her employment. In United Airlines, Inc. v. Taylor, No. 1169-15-4, 2016 Va. App. LEXIS 72 (Va. Ct. App. March 15, 2016), the claimant’s work accident was found non-compensable despite the fact that he lost his balance and fell down several stairs while carrying items totaling around 35 pounds. This case should serve as a reminder that the claimant must show not only that he was injured at work, but that “a condition of the workplace either caused or contributed” to the injury. See Southside Virginia Training Ctr./Commonwealth of Virginia v. Shell, 20 Va. App. 199, 202, 455 S.E. 2d 761, 763 (1995). In other words, the fact that the claimant is carrying something at the time of his injury does not necessarily mean the accident is compensable. In Taylor, the claimant was employed as a ramp agent for United Airlines. His job duties included unloading baggage and other cargo from aircraft. On the day of the accident he was walking up a set of metal stairs while holding two strollers under his arms. Taylor estimated the stroller in his right hand weighed approximately thirty pounds, while the stroller in his left hand weighed about five pounds. As he was walking up the stairs his right knee “popped,” causing him to fall down the stairs and onto his back. His knee then popped back into place. Taylor admitted that the stairs...
by KPMLAW | Feb 23, 2016 | KPMBlog, News, Uncategorized
Written by Gary Reinhardt, Esq. Have you used a Transportation Network Company (TNC) yet? That is the fancy, statutory name for “ride share” companies such as Uber and Lyft. As most are aware, a TNC relies on its drivers to use their personal vehicle. The prospective passenger contacts a TNC driver through the use of a smartphone app. From there, the driver acts as a typical taxicab although personal experience has shown these cars to be cleaner and the driver to be nicer. Payment for the ride is made via credit or debit card already entered into the TNC’s digital platform. The TNC concept is fairly new and courts have yet to sort out the morass of legal and insuring issues these ride shares cause. State statutes set out a comprehensive regulatory framework for these companies, including requirements that essentially label these TNC vehicles and require minimum insurance limits. Starting with Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-2099.48, the Virginia legislature sets out what a TNC and its driver must do to operate in the Commonwealth. This statute requires that all TNC drivers carry “proof of coverage under each in-force TNC insurance policy, which may be displayed as part of the digital platform, and each in-force personal automobile insurance policy covering the vehicle.” This same statute limits a driver from driving more than 13 hours during any 24 hour period. The statute also requires that a TNC vehicle have a different color decal on the license plate, the year decal that shows you have renewed the vehicle registration. Virginia TNC vehicles will have a black decal with yellow “VA” letters and...
by KPMLAW | Sep 14, 2015 | KPMBlog, News, Uncategorized
Editor: Janeen Koch, Esquire Author: J.H. Revere, Esquire Those of us at Kalbaugh, Pfund and Messersmith practice every day in the various Courts of this Commonwealth of Virginia, but many of the people we work with do not have the luxury of focusing on a single jurisdiction. The following outline is a very general and simple outline of Virginia’s Court System, that will hopefully help anyone understand where a particular case sits within Virginia’s Court framework. If you have any more detailed questions please do not hesitate to contact any one of KPM’s civil litigation attorneys. We have attorneys admitted to practice in all of these Courts as well as Courts in North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. As a preliminary matter, Virginia has thirty-one (31) judicial districts comprised of ninety-five (95) counties and thirty-eight (38) independent cities, each with their own court system. For purposes of brevity we will not address Magistrates (who handle only criminal issues), Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts (divorce, child custody, juvenile crime), or the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (administrative courts). GENERAL DISTRICT COURT The General District Court is the lowest level civil Court in Virginia. They are considered a Court not “of record”. Virginia’s General District Courts have exclusive jurisdiction over matters of less than $4500.00 and concurrent or joint jurisdiction with the Circuit Courts for matters up to $25,000.00 (exclusive of interest). The General District Court has no jurisdiction over matters worth more than $25,000.00 and these matters must be filed in another Court (e.g. Circuit Court). Suits may be filed as a Complaint like in Circuit Court...
