WORKER'S COMPENSATION

Morris v. Osborne, No. 2-05-139-CV (Tex. Ct. App. Feb. 16, 2006)

The Court of Appeals of Texas held that a physician was protected by an "absolute judicial privilege" from liability for allegedly defamatory statements made in a report in connection with a worker’s compensation proceeding. An insurance company hired a consulting physician to review one of its physician’s prescription therapies. The physician in question sued the consulting physician after receiving his unfavorable reports. The court held that those reports were made in contemplation of the worker’s compensation hearing which constitutes a judicial proceeding, and that the physician was therefore absolutely protected from all civil liability.