Extreme Weather Makes for Complex Workers’ Comp Claims

wildfire

Attorneys Alan G. Brackett and Lejla Alibasic examine how rising extreme weather events are creating new workers’ compensation issues around workplace hazards, causation, and exclusive remedy rule.
Causation questions are becoming more complex for less obvious weather-related injuries, such as wildfire smoke exposure, and determining whether an injury is connected to the workplace may become increasingly complex.
They cite a study of California agricultural workers’ compensation claims from 2007 to 2020 found cumulative wildfire smoke exposure was responsible for hundreds of additional worker injuries in 2020 alone.
In Moreno v. Florida Orange Gold LLC, a North Carolina appellate court ruled in August that an agricultural worker who suffered a catastrophic, disabling heatstroke could not sue his employer in tort despite OSHA finding the employer failed to follow heat-exposure safety guidelines (including supervisor presence and a buddy system) and despite the same employer having previously been cited following a prior heat-related worker death.

Three northern New Jersey legislators — Senator Parker Space and Assembly members Dawn Fantasia and Michael Inganamort — have joined a growing group of lawmakers, business leaders, and independent contractors asking Gov. Mikie Sherrill to delay the state’s revised ABC test for classifying independent contractors, currently set to take effect Oct. 1.
The legislators sent a letter urging the rule be withdrawn or, at minimum, delayed until July 1, 2027, arguing concerns raised before the Department of Labor & Workforce Development adopted the rule in May were dismissed and haven’t gone away. Senate President Nicholas Scutari has separately requested a pause, and dozens of legislators from both parties have voiced opposition.
NJBIA Policy Analyst Jack Kelly testified in support of separate legislation (A-1511/S-2782) that would exempt certain regulated professionals — including licensed insurance producers, securities professionals, some drayage operators and workers already exempt under state unemployment law — from the new ABC test.
Kelly argued the need for these carve-outs raises a broader question about whether the revised ABC test properly distinguishes legitimate independent work from employment, and recommended that a “balanced” task force examines modern independent-contractor relationships and develop an alternative framework.

Oklahoma’s captive insurance sector, a structure many businesses use to self-insure risks including workers’ compensation, saw total premium volume rise 66.7% from 2024 to 2025, climbing from $225.8 million to approximately $696.6 million, according to figures from the Oklahoma Insurance Department.
The 2025 total includes direct premium, which rose to $388.8 million from $359.9 million in 2024, and assumed (reinsurance) premium, which jumped two-fold to $307.9 million from $109.2 million the year before.
The number of licensed captive insurers in Oklahoma grew by 15% between the end of 2024 and 2025 — nearly double the prior year’s 8.1% growth rate — after the OID approved all 14 applications it received for new captive licenses, while four captives dissolved, resulting in a net increase of 10 insurers.