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Case Summaries

Workers' Comp

[08/22] Craft v. Astrue
Denial of a motion to alter or amend a judgment that plaintiff did not qualify for Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits is reversed and remanded where: 1) there was not an "accurate and logical bridge" between the ALJ's recitation of the mental medical evidence and a decision to account for plaintiff's mental impairments by limiting him to unskilled work; and 2) the stated reasons of the ALJ for finding that plaintiff lacked credibility were contradicted by the objective evidence.

[08/18] US v. Simpson
A sentence and order of restitution imposed for defendant's crime of mail fraud, involving his underreporting of payroll information for his businesses to his workers' compensation insurance carriers, is affirmed where the district court correctly concluded that the "loss" caused by this conduct was the amount of additional premiums that the insurance carriers would have charged had they been given accurate information.

[08/11] Ridings v. Riverside Med. Ctr.
In an employee's suit alleging violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and state worker's compensation law, summary judgment for defendant-employer is affirmed where: 1) an interference claim failed because evidence regarding plaintiff's invocation of FMLA, and defendant's requests that she provide adequate medical certification, did not demonstrate that plaintiff was entitled to leave under the FMLA and that defendant denied her FMLA benefits to which she was entitled; 2) defendant could not be deemed to have retaliated against plaintiff by asking her to fulfill her obligations under the FMLA; and 3) a state-law retaliation claim failed as defendant articulated a valid basis for terminating plaintiff, and plaintiff failed to demonstrate sufficient evidence to show that such basis was pretext.

[08/08] Mt. Diablo Unified Sch. Dist. v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd.
Temporary disability payments commence when a school district pays an injured employee his or her normal wages under Education Code section 44043.

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