Iowa Workers' Compensation

On April 16, 2010, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Ballalatak v. All Iowa Agriculture Association , 2010 WL 1507635, No. 08-1588 (Iowa April 16, 2010) http://www.iowacourts.gov/Supreme_Court/Recent_Opinions/20100416/08-1588.pdf . Ballalatak involved a supervisor who was fired for advocating to two injured workers that they hire an attorney to ensure they received workers' compensation benefits. The district court held that even if the supervisor was fired for attempting to help the injured workers receive workers' compensation benefits, plaintiff failed to state a claim because there was no public policy that protected supervisors or coemployees from termination for aiding injured employees in collecting workers' compensation benefits. In affirming the decision of the district court, the Supreme Court noted that employers may generally fire an at-will employee at any time. In order for the public policy exception to the at-will rule to apply, said the court, the...

Following the passage of section 85.34(7), the constitutionality of the bill (HF 2581) of which that provision as a part was challenged in the case of Godfrey v. State of Iowa , 752 N.W.2d 413 (Iowa 2008). http://www.iowacourts.gov/Supreme_Court/Recent_Opinions/20080620/05-1691.pdf . In Godfrey , the court found that the claimant lacked standing to challenge the provisions of the bill, and therefore did not rule on the constitutionality of that provision. More recently, the constitutionality of the bill of which the apportionment language was a part was again challenged, in Quaker Oats v. Main , 2010 WL 200420, No. 08-1507 (Iowa App. Jan. 22, 2010). http://www.iowacourts.gov/court_of_appeals/Recent_Opinions/20100122/9-896.pdf . In Main , the court found that the claimant's constitutional challenge was not filed in a timely manner, and hence could not be heard by the court. The court indicated that since the challenge had not been filed before HF 2581 was codified in January of...