Exclusive remedy—providing immunity to employers from employee tort suits for work-related injuries covered by WC—has been a closely watched topic among WC stakeholders for several years. In 2025, we reported on decisions addressing applicability and exceptions to exclusive remedy.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, NCCI began monitoring COVID-19 cases that could have implications for the WC system. The cases reported on to date, including in 2025, have dealt with issues surrounding compensability from the alleged contraction of COVID-19 at work, or the application of exclusive remedy where employees contract COVID-19 and sue their employers in tort.
In the last decade, many states have enacted laws that create WC presumptions that certain injuries or diseases suffered by first responders arise in the course and scope of employment. In 2025, NCCI reported on the following cases that considered issues surrounding the application of first responder presumption laws.
Marijuana legalization at the state and federal levels, and the potential implications for WC, has been a hot topic for several years. Considerations related to legalization of marijuana are likely to be ongoing in 2026 as stakeholders monitor whether the federal government will move forward with the reclassification of marijuana from schedule I to schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. In 2025, NCCI reported on an appellate court decision addressing the issue of WC reimbursement for CBD oil.
This year, courts have reviewed questions related to attorney fees in WC cases. Some of these cases have considered the application of attorney fee statutes and their constitutionality.
Across the states, courts remained engaged in cases that could impact the WC system and its stakeholders. These cases addressed issues such as benefit calculations, jurisdictional and procedural requirements, and payments to medical providers, among others.
Northeastern Zone Cases
Southeastern Zone Cases
Midwestern Zone Cases
Western Zone Cases
