On April 11, 2018, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals issued its opinion in an appeal of a Board of Review decision denying a WV workers’ compensation meal reimbursement claim. The court determined that West Virginia workers’ compensation law allows reimbursement for meal expenses during travel for an independent medical exam (IME) located 100 miles away from the claimant’s home. The court’s decision has broad implications for workers and employers across West Virginia.

The West Virginia Supreme Court has cleared the way for the state’s right to work law to finally go into effect.  This law, called the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act, prevents employers from entering into agreements with unions that require employees to either join a union or pay a service fee to the union.  The law was enacted early in 2016, right after the Republican party took control of the state’s legislature. On September 15, 2017, the state’s high court struck down a preliminary injunction that had prevented the enforcement of the Act, thereby paving the way for the West Virginia right to work law to go into effect.

On September 12, 2017, a group of three Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys had the honor of presenting to the West Virginia Rural Water Association (WVRWA) at their 32nd Annual Training and Technical Conference in Charleston, West Virginia (WV).   Their presentation was entitled, “Accidents Will Happen:  Employment Issues After a Workplace Injury.”

An issue that has recently become prevalent in West Virginia (WV) workers’ compensation litigation is whether a claimant has a right to compel deposition testimony of the claims adjuster. The WV Workers’ Compensation Office of Judges (OJ) recently issued a decision that bears directly on the issue of workers’ compensation claims adjuster testimony.

Last month, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (WV) issued an exciting new memorandum decision in an appeal from a permanent partial disability (PPD) award. In summary, the WV Office of Judges issued a PPD award reduction after a claimant appealed from the decision of the claims administrator, dropping the PPD award from 4% to 1%.