Posted on July 13, 2017 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
Wisconsin’s exclusive remedy of worker’s compensation has long been a bulwark against civil suits brought by employees (subject to a few narrow exceptions not applicable here). This bulwark has survived a creative attack in an asbestos case in Pecher v. Owens-Illinois, Inc. 859 F.3d 396 (2017), which was decided on June 6, 2017. The case […]
Posted on February 1, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
The federal District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin dismissed two state law emotional distress claims in a lawsuit based on the exclusive remedy provision of the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Act (WCA). The employee filed suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging that the failure of her employer to provide requested leave […]
Posted on May 11, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
The important protection that employers have under Wisconsin’s Worker’s Compensation Act is the exclusive remedy against employees for work-related accidents, conditions, or illnesses. While the employer enjoys near immunity from a civil suit, that protection can be waived. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently held that an employer had waived its exclusive remedy protection through […]
Posted on April 28, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
Plaintiffs in asbestos personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits often attempt to circumvent the exclusive remedy of worker’s compensation. The federal district court for the Western District of Wisconsin has recently applied Wisconsin’s exclusive remedy provision to dismiss a Wisconsin employer from an asbestos lawsuit brought by an employee. The case is Boyer v. Weyerhauser […]
Posted on September 2, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
Just how threatening and intimidating can a superior or co-employee act toward a subordinate or co-employee without incurring the risk of a civil lawsuit for damages under Wisconsin law? The federal district court in Madison faced that interesting question in a preliminary motion hearing. As a result, the lawsuit against the sheriff of Burnett County […]