Appeals court considers Arizona cross-border shooting case
Recent Cases
A government attorney argued Friday that the mother of a 16-year-old Mexican boy killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in a cross border shooting should not be allowed to sue the agent because the boy lacked significant ties to the United States.
But a lawyer for the mother countered that the boy's grandmother cared for him while she was a legal permanent U.S. resident.
The arguments before a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stem from the October 2012 shooting of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez by Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz, who opened fire from Arizona and hit Elena Rodriguez in Mexico.
Related listings
-
Court: US agency acted reasonably to protect seals
Recent Cases 11/02/2016An appeals court panel on Monday ruled that a federal agency acted reasonably in proposing to list a certain population of bearded seals threatened by sea ice loss. The decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San F...
-
Greece court cancels TV license overhaul; blow to government
Recent Cases 10/26/2016A high court has canceled a television license auction in Greece, dealing a blow to the country's left-wing government which carried out the sale as part of an anti-corruption drive. Judges from the Council of State court ruled 14-11 late Wednesday t...
-
Court hearing on potential Ontario ban of Indians name, logo
Recent Cases 10/17/2016A Toronto court will hear arguments on an attempt to bar the Cleveland Indians from using their team name and logo in Ontario. The legal challenge by indigenous activist Douglas Cardinal comes on the same day the baseball team takes on the Toronto Bl...
Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.