Iowa Court Awards No Penalty for Failure to Pay While Appeal Is Pending Before the Agency

While limiting its ruling to the specific facts of this case, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled in late July, 2009, that an employer could refuse to pay the ordered award to the injured worker while an appeal is pending.
In Millenkamp v. Millenkamp Cattle and Allied Insurance, the Court found that the [...]

Agency Raises Limit on Assessing Costs for Doctor Reports

In an Appeal Decision filed in late July, 2009, Caven v. Deere Dubuque Works, the Iowa Division of Workers’ Compensation rules will no longer be interpreted to limit the award of costs for doctor reports to $150.00. That is potentially a major change.
Previously, the agency had a rule allowing an award to the prevailing party [...]

Iowa Court of Appeals Finds No Agreement to Settle Claim

In its opinion in Eaton Corporation v. Branson, filed June 17, 2009, the Iowa Court of Appeals found that the employer was not entitled to specific enforcement of what they claimed was a legally enforceable agreement to settle a claim for a work injury claim.
While the self-insured employer and its workers’ compensation claims administrator [...]

Iowa Supreme Court Finds Permanent Total Disability Award Cannot Be Apportioned

In the 1990s and up to 2004, the Iowa Supreme Court had held that an employer might be responsible for the impact of a previous work injury, even if it had happened at another employer. That string of decisions had upset employers, and in 2004, the Iowa General Assembly changed the workers’ compensation statute, adding [...]