Iowa Workers' Compensation

In Leliefeld v. Liberty Mutual Ins. , No. 1-636 (Iowa App. Nov. 9, 2011), the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court ruling which had declined to stay a bad faith action pending resolution of the underlying workers' compensation case.  The district court had held that although it was reasonable to delay a trial in the bad faith claim until the workers' compensation claim had been resolved, there was no reason to stay discovery in the bad faith action.  The court noted that Reedy v. White Consolidated Industries , 503 N.W.2d 601 (Iowa 1993) had addressed a similar question, and had concluded that a stay was not always necessary and that the court should follow a discretionary abstention policy that would delay the consideration of the issues by the court.  This did not mean, however, that actions that were preliminary to a determination by the court should necessarily be stayed, and the Court of Appeals noted that Reedy had not mandated that a stay be granted or that all

In another example of how difficult it is to successfully pursue a gross negligence claim, the Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of such a claim in Whitacre v. Brown , No. 1-509 (Iowa App. Oct. 19, 2011).  Plaintiff had been taught to clean the rollers on a machine in a certain manner, and this same technique for cleaning the machine had been used in the past without incident.  A Manual that was in proximity to the machine advised workers not to put their hands by the revolving rolls and not to wipe the rollers while they were turning.  The Manual's instructions were contrary to the method in which plaintiff was instructed, in which the rollers were cleaned while they were turning.  Mr. Whitacre was injured using the cleaning procedures he had been taught. Whitacre filed against defendants based on gross negligence, and his claim was dismissed on summary judgment by the district court because he had not demonstrated any of the elements of gross negligence.  On appeal, the c