Justia New Hampshire Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Petitioner James Margeson appealed a decision of the New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board (CAB) that denied him reimbursement for medical treatment and workers' compensation benefits. Petitioner conducted a "bed check" at a state youth center when he twisted his knee. The Center contended that Petitioner's injury was precipitated by a pre-existing war wound. The CAB rejected the Center's version of Petitioner's injury. However, the CAB did not award Petitioner reimbursement, finding that Petitioner "did not encounter any greater risk of his employment than in his everyday life and the stairs were merely an incident or an occasion that accompanied the injury." The CAB denied Petitioner's motion for reconsideration. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the parties agreed that Petitioner was injured at work. The parties disputed whether his injury arose out of his employment. The Court adopted an "increased-risk" test for injuries attributable to neutral risks such as the unexplained fall at issue in this case: "the injury must actually result from the hazards of employment and not merely from the bare existence of employment." The Court reversed and remanded the CAB's decision to make specific findings as to whether Petitioner's injury was a "neutral risk" and if so, that record reflects the medical and legal causation of the injury. View "Appeal of Margeson" on Justia Law

Respondents North of the Border Tobacco, LLC (Tobacco) and Roll Your Own, LLC (RYO) appealed decisions of the Superior Court that enjoined them from allowing customers to use on-site cigarette-making machines to make rolled cigarettes with loose tobacco unless they make required escrow payments as required by law. An escrow fund was set up by the state to share the burden from damages for smoking-related health care costs. Respondents own tobacco shops that sell various tobacco products. At some point, for a rental fee, cigarette-making machines were installed for on-site customer use. The State filed suit in 2009 and sought an injunction against Respondents to stop selling or rolling cigarettes until they paid into the fund. Tobacco denied that it manufactured cigarettes and argued that it did not have to contribute to the fund. The trial court disagreed and issued the injunction. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision to issue the injunction against Tobacco. However, the Court vacated the trial court's decision against RYO, holding that a preliminary injunction was premature prior to resolving several constitutional issues pertaining to RYO's business operations. Accordingly, the Court affirmed part, reversed part of the trial court's ruling, and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "New Hampshire v. North of the Border Tobacco, LLC" on Justia Law