Court of Appeals Affirms Declaratory Order Requiring Divulgence of Surveillance Materials
The Court of Appeals, in a case that is likely to be heard by the Supreme Court, has held that the Commissioner's Declaratory Order indicating that section 85.27 required the release of surveillance materials once surveillance had been conducted was appropriate. Iowa Insurance Institute et al. v. Core Group of the Iowa Association for Justice , No. 13-1627 (Oct. 29, 2014). The court, in a 2-1 decision, found that section 85.27 of the Code, in its requirement that the release of all information was required in a workers' compensation case, encompassed the disclosure of surveillance materials. The declaratory order proceeding had been brought by the Core Group of the Iowa Association for Justice (Core Group) before the commissioner to obtain an order elucidating the commissioner's position on this issue. The Iowa Insurance Institute and other employer and defense counsel groups intervened in the proceedings at the commissioner level. An initial question in the c...