Iowa Workers' Compensation

  Tuttle v. Archer Daniels Midland Co. , No. 23-1941 (Iowa App. Jan. 9, 2025) In this unusual case, the deputy ordered claimant to reimburse her employer $3900 for allegedly harassing conduct in the service of a subpoena on a doctor.  Claimant alleges the sanction was a nullity because the agency lacked the authority to adjudicate subpoenas.  The Court disagrees and affirms the commissioner's sanction. The Court had earlier addressed this case and had remanded to the district court to determine whether all administrative remedies had been exhausted and to determine whether review of agency action would provide an adequate remedy.  The district court found administrative remedies adequate and indicated claimant must exhaust such remedies before proceeding. Because claimant had not appealed to the commissioner, there was still a remedy to be exhausted.   The case arose when claimant served a subpoena  on the employer's expert.  ADM subsequently soug...

Over the years, a number of trucking companies have required, as a condition of employment, that drivers' agree that when they are released to light duty work, they will accept treatment in Iowa.  In Roland v Annett Holdings, Inc. , No. 18-1092 (Iowa March 20, 2020), the Supreme Court addressed such a memorandum of understanding in the context of a class action challenge to such proceedings. Claimant was a driver for Annett, where he was injured.  He had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreeing to short-term light duty and treatment in Iowa.  His initial treatment was in Alabama, where he lived.  His doctor prescribed a certain type of therapy with a cooling machine.  The employer sought to have claimant return to Iowa for treatment, but he could not travel by air with the machine and could not keep the electricity on for the machine while driving.  The employer required claimant to return to Iowa.  Claimant filed an alternate medical ca...