MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO EXTEND BROOKS AUTOMATIC-REIMBURSEMENT RULE TO A MEDICAL PROVIDER THAT DOES NOT RECEIVE PROPER NOTICE OF ITS RIGHT TO INTERVENE IN A WORKERS’ COMPENSATION PROCEEDING.

In Gamble v. Twin Cities Concrete Products, the Minnesota Supreme Court considered whether to extend its decision in Brooks v. A.M.F., Inc., 278 N.W.2d 310 (Minn. 1979), and require automatic payment of a medical provider's treatment expenses when an employer fails to give the medical provider notice of its right to intervene in a workers' compensation proceeding to determine responsibility for those expenses. Based on the promulgation of specific rules to protect an intervenor's interests since Brooks and the absence of prejudice, the supreme court declined to extend the automatic-reimbursement rule and determined that the hospital was not entitled to automatic payment of its medical bills.  Read more here.