Category: Newsworthy

By Christopher C. Taintor, Esq. Section 2511 of the Maine Health Security Act grants immunity from suit to physicians (and some others) “for making any report or other information available to any . . . professional competence committee . . .  committee pursuant to law.”  A “professional competence committee” is any committee which has “responsibility...

Termination Due to Cause from Post-Injury Employment A recently issued Appellate Division case provides some clarity to the murky question as to what effect, if any, does termination due to cause have on the analysis of an injured worker’s post-injury earning capacity. In O’Leary v. Northern Maine Medical Center, the employee sustained a 2011 back...

Social Security Retirement Benefits and 14-Day Violation The Appellate Division recently issued a notable decision in a case titled Butler v. City of Portland.  This decision addresses two issues:  (1) the applicability of the Social Security retirement benefit authorized under the coordination of benefits provision in §221; and (2) whether a 14 day violation exists...

By Devin W. Deane, Esq. In a recent decision, Roy v. Correct Care Solutions, LLC, 914 F.3d 52 (1st Cir. 2019), the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit significantly expanded the scope and reach of employer and non-employer liability under the Maine Human Rights Act (“MHRA”).  Addressing “unresolved questions of Maine Law,”...

By Matthew T. Mehalic, Esq., CPCU In John Sweet II v. Carl E. Breivogel et al., 2019 ME 18 (Jan. 29, 2019), the Law Court looked at the connection between the Home Construction Contracts Act (HCCA) and the Unfair Trade Practice Act (UTPA).  The case arose out of the home construction of a timber frame...

By Matthew T. Mehalic, Esq., CPCU In Randy N. Oliver, II et al. v. Eastern Maine Medical Center, 2018 ME 123 (August 21, 2018), the Law Court addressed whether EMMC was negligent when it discharged an individual despite contrary instructions given by the individual’s limited guardians to the hospital.  The Superior Court entered judgment in...

By Matthew T. Mehalic, Esq., CPCU In Vermont Mutual Insurance Company v. Jonathan Ben-Ami, et al., 2018 ME 125 (August 21, 2018), the Law Court addressed whether the expected or intended injury exclusion applied where an individual carried through a premeditated attack on another.  James Poliquin, Esq. of Norman, Hanson & DeTroy, LLC represented Vermont...

By:  Stephen Hessert Background Medicare came into being in 1935 as part of the original Social Security Act enacted by Congress.  It was described as “a federally funded health insurance program for the elderly and the disabled.”  Over the years, its cost became problematic and in the late 1970s, a General Accounting Office study suggested...

Chambers & Partners USA 2018 has recognized NHD as a Top Firm in the category Litigation: General Commercial. Additionally the following NHD attorneys have received the “Ranked Lawyer” distinction in the publication: Emily A. Bloch – Maine Litigation: Medical Malpractice & Insurance Jonathan W. Brogan – Maine Litigation: Medical Malpractice & Insurance Mark G. Lavoie...

Average Weekly Wage The employee was employed by the same employer for 52 weeks prior to a December 17, 2014 injury, but for approximately 13 of those weeks she was out of work for non-occupational reasons and received STD benefits which were substantially lower than her customary weekly earnings.  The ALJ determined the average weekly...

Statute of Limitations Ten years ago the Law Court ruled in Wilson v. Bath Iron Works, 2008 ME 47, 942 A.2d 1237 that the two-year statute of limitations does not begin to run until the employer files a First Report of Injury, regardless of how much time may have passed since the injury occurred.  In...

Waiver of Issues The employee filed a Petition for Award resulting from a December 8, 2015 injury to her neck and left hand.  She also filed a Petition for Reinstatement.  She had not worked for the employer since the date of injury, and a dispute arose as to whether the employer had offered her suitable...