ABI to File Amicus Brief on Shoulder Cases Before the Iowa Supreme Court

Since the historic rewrite and passage of the Iowa Workers Compensation Code in 2017, ABI has been monitoring agency and court interpretations of the revised statute to preserve the gains to employers achieved through its adoption. A central feature of the revised language was to treat a workplace injury to a shoulder as only an injury to the shoulder, rather than an injury to the entire body. 

This provision is significant to the financial liability an employer would have in such cases and the 2017 shoulder definitions brought Iowa in line with other states. Not unsurprisingly, interpretation of the statute has been challenged administratively and in court. Recently, administrative law judges rendered initial decisions negative to employers. However, Iowa Workers Compensation Division Commissioner Joseph Cortese reversed in a decision the business community supports.
Attorneys eager to erode the clarity of the 2017 law change have now taken the case to the Iowa Supreme Court and ABI is responding by leading an effort to file an amicus brief in the case. For more information on the case or to participate in the amicus brief contact JD Davis.