| Representative Payees for Supplemental Security Income Beneficiaries |
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| When a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiary is unable to manage his SSI funds, the Social Security Administration (SSA) appoints a representative payee to do so on behalf of the beneficiary. A representative payee can be an individual, organization, agency, or institution. Generally, an SSI beneficiary in need of a representative payee includes a child under age eighteen, a legally incompetent adult, and any other person who the SSA determines to be incapable of managing his funds. More... |
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| Consequences of Injury in Course of Employment |
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| When an employee is injured in the course of his employment, the natural and resulting consequences from such injury are compensable as also arising in the course of employment. The compensable consequences of the injury can encompass a negative progression or complication of the injury or a completely new injury resulting from the initial one. However, for the initial injury to be considered the root of the resulting condition, there can be no independent intervening cause occasioned by the employee's own intentional conduct. More... |
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| Injury "By Accident" |
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| For the recovery of workers' compensation benefits, many jurisdictions require proof of injury "by accident." While some states define accidental injuries in their workers' compensation statutes, others do not leaving the courts to sort out the meaning intended. Generally, "by accident" signifies that an identifiable, yet unexpected, event caused the injury. Whether an injury has occurred "by accident" has been heavily litigated among the applicable states with the result being a developing definition of the phrase. For example, one court defined an "accident" as an unanticipated occurrence as opposed to one that was expected. Another court has defined "accident" as an unexpected and precipitous event that happens suddenly and produces an injury based on objective findings. More... |
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| Employee's Failure to Obey Safety Rules as Statutory Defense |
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| When an employee claims workers' compensation benefits are due to him based on an injury that occurred on the job, many states allow an employer to defend itself by presenting evidence that the employee wilfully disobeyed the employer's prescribed safety rules or purposefully neglected to use a safety device. Although in rare cases the defense represents a complete bar to the employee's recovery of benefits, usually the employee's recovery is just subject to a reduction. More... |
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| Intoxication |
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| When an employee is injured outside the course of his employment, he is ineligible to receive workers' compensation benefits. When an employee becomes voluntarily intoxicated such that he cannot function or perform the tasks of his job, courts will consider him to have departed from the course of employment. Therefore, compensation for an injury incurred while the employee is so inebriated as to be incapable of performing his work will likely be denied. More... |
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