Justia Labor & Employment Law Opinion Summaries

After the City of the Pierre and the International Union of Operating Engineers were unable to reach an agreement for employment contracts, the City imposed the terms and conditions of one of its previously proposed contracts that had been rejected by the Union. The Union filed for conciliation and fact-finding with the state Department of Labor, arguing the City could not impose the previously rejected contract until after the Department's conciliation and fact-finding process was complete. The trial court held in favor of the City, holding that the conciliation and fact-finding process was permissive, not mandatory, and therefore the City could unilaterally impose a contract any time after impasse was declared. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the City could not impose a previously rejected contract until the Department's conciliation and fact-finding was complete. Remanded.

Carlin Jewett was employed as a welder by Real Tuff where Jewett often worked on his knees. In 2006, Jewett suffered a right knee injury. Jewett received arthroscopic surgery, during which the surgeon found pre-existing bilateral osteoarthritis in Jewett's knee. Jewett subsequently filed a petition with the state Department of Labor, seeking workers' compensation for a right knee replacement. Two years later, Jewett suffered a second work-related injury to his left knee. Jewett added a workers' compensation claim for diagnostic treatment of his left knee. The Department and the circuit court ruled that Jewell failed to sustain his burden of proof on the alternate theories that (1) work-related injuries to both knees were a major contributing cause of the need for medical treatment, and (2) the cumulative effect of Jewett's work-related activities was a major contributing cause of the osteoarthritis. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding the Department and circuit court did not err in finding (1) Jewett's first injury was not a major contributing cause of Jewett's need for a right knee replacement, and (2) Jewett did not prove that working on his knees was a major contributing cause of his osteoarthritis.

Jeremy Lloyd was the general manager at a CiCi's Pizza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which was owned by Dakota Land Pizza, and was temporarily managing two CiCi's Pizzas in Omaha, Nebraska, which were owned by Byrne Brands. While traveling between Omaha and Sioux Falls on a trip that was not assigned as part of Lloyd's employment duties, Lloyd was involved in a rollover accident. Lloyd filed a workers' compensation claim against defendants Dakota Land and Byrne Brands. The Department of Labor granted defendants' motions for summary judgment, determining that no genuine issue of material fact demonstrated that Lloyd's injuries arose out of or in the course of his employment. The circuit court affirmed. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Lloyd's claim did not satisfy the "arising out of" requirement for a workers' compensation claim because it failed to demonstrate that a causal connection existed between the injury and the employment.