In Minnesota, it seems we are constantly in the ‘construction season’. Whether it be road, housing or industrial, wherever you look there seems to be a construction project in process. In the construction industry, 25% of injuries incurred on-the-job, are back injuries. Construction sites have the second-highest rate of back injuries than any other injury, next to transportation. Back injuries cause 1 in 100 construction workers to miss time from work every year. The attorneys at Meuser Law, P.A. are experienced in Minnesota workers’ compensation and personal injury law and have successfully represented many clients with this type of injury.
When working construction, injuries to the back are most often caused by lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing, or pulling heavy materials. Low back injuries are more likely to occur if you are often carrying heavy loads, twisting while carrying heavy loads, often bending over, or perform work in awkward positions. Most back injuries are sprains and strains, but a back injury can be more severe, such as a herniated disc or nerve impingement.

Subrogation refers to the right of a “third-party” to be reimbursed for benefits the entity paid on your behalf when another party is deemed responsible by the court. Subrogation is also known as “the right of recovery” or “the right of reimbursement.”
For example, in a case where the insurance company denies liability, you may have to seek payment of your medical bills through your major medical insurance carrier, like BlueCross and BlueShield. BlueCross and BlueShield would then have a “subrogation interest” in your case.

To successfully review, argue and win cases, it’s simply not enough to be able to memorize and recite the law. An intelligent, experienced attorney will also look for opportunities to interpret the meaning of a statute as it pertains to their client’s case. When interpreting a statute, a court “must ascertain and effectuate the intention of the legislature. To ascertain and effectuate the legislature’s intent, courts must first look to see whether the statute’s language, on its face, is clear or ambiguous. A statute is only ambiguous when it is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation.” See State v. McCoy, 682 N.W.2d 153, 158–59 (Minn. 2004). This nuance becomes extremely important in workers’ compensation cases involving Minnesota Statutes section 353E.001, which defines Duty Disability as:
a condition that is expected to prevent a member, for a period of not less than 12 months, from performing the normal duties of a local government correctional service employee as defined under section 353E.02 and that is the direct result of an injury incurred during, or a disease arising out of, the performance of normal duties or the actual performance of less frequent duties, either of which are specific to protecting the property and personal safety of others and that present inherent dangers that are specific to the positions covered by the local government correctional service retirement plan.

Dog bite injuries account for more emergency room visits each year than injuries from bikes, mopeds, ATV’s, the playground, inline skating or skateboarding combined. Most victims are bitten either by their own dogs or by dogs owned by someone they know. People that run the highest risk of being bitten tend to be boys between the ages of five and nine. Minnesota Statute § 347.22 governs dog bite injuries in Minnesota:
If a dog, without provocation, attacks or injures any person who is acting peaceably in any place where the person may lawfully be, the owner of the dog is liable in damages to the person so attacked or injured to the full amount of the injury sustained. The term “owner” includes any person harboring or keeping a dog but the owner shall be primarily liable. The term “dog” includes both male and female of the canine species.