Moad v. Dakota Truck Underwriters

Moad v. Dakota Truck Underwriters, --- N.W.2d ----, 2013 WL 2127571, Iowa, May 17, 2013 (NO. 12-0126)

The Iowa Supreme Court adopted § 185 of the Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Law to determine whether the law of Iowa or South Dakota should apply to determine whether a South Dakota worker’s compensation carrier is entitled to subrogation for payments made to its insured by underinsured and uninsured insurance carriers arising out of a settlement resulting from third-party litigation in Iowa. OPINION HOLDS: The local law of the state, here South Dakota, under whose workmen’s compensation statute an employee has received an award for an injury determines what interest the person who paid the award has in any recovery for tort or wrongful death that he employee may obtain against a third person on account of the same injury. Remanded.

Coffey v. Mid Seven Transp. Co

Coffey v. Mid Seven Transp. Co, --- N.W.2d ----, 2013 WL 1922810, Iowa, May 10, 2013 (NO. 11-1106)

Where an injured employee receives a third-party settlement completely satisfying the employer’s obligation to pay weekly benefits before the commissioner files the arbitration award, the three-year statute of limitations in section 85.26(2) commences from the date of the arbitration award. If it is determined that the employer’s obligation to pay weekly benefits under the arbitration award was not completely satisfied by the recoveries from the third parties, the statute of limitations for the claimant’s review-reopening petition will commence running on the date the employer or insurance company makes its last payment of weekly benefits under the arbitration award.