What is a Shoulder?

Jennifer is proud to represent Mary Deng in a workers’ compensation claim against Farmland Foods, Inc., now known as Smithfield Foods, Inc., in Denison, which is pending before the Iowa Supreme Court. The issue in the case is whether the Claimant’s rotator cuff injury is a “shoulder” injury under the new law passed in 2017, or whether a rotator cuff injury is more than a shoulder, due to its location in relation to the shoulder joint.

Jennifer and her client’s position have been supported by Amicus Briefs filed by LULAC Iowa, the AFL-CIO, the UFCW, and the Iowa Association for Justice’s Workers’ Compensation Core Group. Amicus means “friend” so these briefs are filed for the benefit of the court – as a “friend” of the court. They all support a ruling in favor of injured workers.

The result of the case will have a significant impact on workers in Iowa who suffer devastating rotator cuff and other injuries in the area of the shoulder joint. Many of these workers are our meatpacking workers, who are already disadvantaged in the labor market, as set forth in LULAC’s brief, but the decision also will impact many nurses, police officers, firefighters, and other industrial laborers. Anyone who has, or may get a “shoulder” injury in Iowa is impacted.

Attached is a copy of Claimant’s Brief and the three Amicus Briefs filed by the aforementioned “friends of the Court”.