Call Us 919-240-4054In an opinion issued two weeks ago, Johnston v. Duke University Medical Center, the North Carolina Court of Appeals concluded that the plaintiff’s occupational disease workers’ compensation claim was time-barred. The plaintiff had been a nurse at Duke, and developed several conditions in her left foot: plantar fasciitis, tarsal tunnel syndrome, and Achilles tendinopathy. These conditions developed […]
In the News
Issues raised by new types of workplace drug testing
This New York Times article discusses an important employment issue that may become more prevelant: whether and how employers may test and discipline employees for using legal prescription drugs. As the article relates, drug testing like this is regulated in part by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In North Carolina, two other state statutes can […]
NC Court of Appeals rejects another Woodson claim
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued an opinion concerning the viability of plaintiff’s Woodson claim — a wrongful death tort action based on an injury sustained at work. In Valenzuela v. Pallet Express Inc., the Court once again rejected a Woodson in what seemed to be an egregious case. Typically, plaintiffs injured […]
Latest workers’ compensation opinion from NC Court of Appeals
On September 21, 2010, the North Carolina Court of Appeals released its latest batch of opinions, which included one published case on workers’ compensation. In Pope v. Johns Manville, the Court issued a second opinion in this case after granting defendants’ petition for rehearing. The Court’s first opinion in this case, issued earlier this year, […]
Valerie teaching at UNC and Wake Forest Law Schools
This semester Valerie Johnson is teaching at two law schools. At Wake Forest Law School, Valerie is co-teaching Workers’ Compensation: a study of the substantive and procedural elements of state mandated compensation systems for injured workers with an emphasis on the employer/employee relation, compensable injuries and occupational diseases, and the exclusivity of the remedy; additionally, these systems will be […]
Latest workers’ compensation decision from NC Court of Appeals
Earlier this week, the North Carolina Court of Appeals published its latest workers’ compensation decision in Hedges v. Wake County Public School System. In this case, the plaintiff had stumbled and fell when she walked into a workroom to make copies of payroll materials. The plaintiff did not trip on something; she simply stumbled and fell. Because of […]