As we have seen, to receive compensation under Iowa Code chapter 85, an injury must “occur in the course of employment,” and an injury that occurs while commuting to or from work does not qualify in general.  However, there are many exceptions to the “going and coming” rule against compensation.  Employer-provided transport—If the employer supplies the vehicle […]

What if the only “connection” requirement to compensate an injury was that it had to “arise out of” the employment?  One can craft an argument that would make most injuries somehow compensable under that standard.  If I got in a wreck on the commute to work, that commute arises out of the employment—I wouldn’t be […]

Prior posts have stated that a workers’ comp claimant has the burden of showing four things in order to obtain an award of compensation: (a) employment; (b) injury; (c) the injury arises out of employment; (d) the injury occurred in the course of employment.  These last two elements are considered the “core” of workers’ compensation […]

As stated in an earlier blog, a worker has the burden of showing four things to establish a right to compensation for work injury—(a) employment; (b) injury; (c) that the injury arose out of the employment; and (d) that the injury occurred in the course of employment.  This blog focuses on the “injury” element. This […]

In a typical year in Iowa, there are 40 to 60 work fatalities—work injuries in which the worker loses his or her life.  The majority of these major incidents are motor vehicle crashes on highways, and a high percentage of the victims are truckers.  There are millions of miles driven by truckers in Iowa every year, and […]