Appeals Court in New Mexico Rules Medical Marijuana Should Be Paid By Workers Comp A New Mexico Court of Appeals ruled recently that an employer’s workers comp coverage should go to pay for an injured worker’s medical marijuana. This is, so far, the first appellate court ruling in favor of medical marijuana treatment paid by an insurance company for a work place injury. The injured worker, George Vialpando, was working at Ben’s Automotive Services in Santa Fe in 2000 when he seriously injured his back. His physician testified that … [Read more...]
Detroit Teacher Files Workers Comp Claim After Student Fight
July 16, 2014 by
Detroit Teacher Who Broke Up Fight Between Students with Broom Files Workers Comp Claim for Trauma A Detroit public school teacher, who became famous after a video of her breaking up a fight between two students with a broom went viral, has filed a workers comp claim with her employers asserting that she now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident, rendering her unable to return to work. Tiffani Eaton, 31 years old, filed a workers comp claim on Thursday, July 9th, with the Education Achievement Authority, the group that … [Read more...]
Texas Workers Comp Policy Fails Workers
July 2, 2014 by
Texas Workers Comp Policy Does Not Require Workers Comp Coverage, Leading to Numerous Worker Injury Problems Although Texas appears to be a state with a booming industry, especially in construction, the perceived economic growth glosses over a statewide problem with Texas workers comp policy, involving worker injuries and a lack of workers comp. According to a recent report, Texas leads the nation in worker fatalities in 7 of the last 10 years. Worse, when a Texas worker is injured on the job, they face a workers comp industry stymied by … [Read more...]
SC Workers’ Compensation Claims: It’s Hot out There
June 27, 2014 by
Heat Related SC Workers' Compensation Claims It's no secret that the heat and humidity are a problem in South Carolina. If you work outside, you are at risk of heatstroke and other related injuries, which leads to the discussion of SC Workers' Compensation Claims. Not surprisingly, OSHA has launched a campaign to remind employers and employees about the dangers of heat and heatstroke that features three simple words: Water. Rest. Shade. Every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration launches a summer campaign targeted at … [Read more...]
Fear of Job Stability Affects Workers Comp Outcomes
June 24, 2014 by
Workers’ Fear of Job Loss Affects Workers Comp Outcomes Researchers looking at workers comp outcomes have identified job anxiety as a major factor in treatment and injury outcomes. “Better information about the predictors of poorer worker outcomes may allow payors and doctors to better target health care and return-to-work interventions to those most at risk,” said Dr. Richard Victor, executive director of the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), which looked at workers comp across eight states. The study, Predictors of Worker … [Read more...]
BP Sued for Failing to Pay Workers Compensation After Spill Clean-Up
June 19, 2014 by
BP Faces Lawsuit for Failing to Pay Workers Compensation After Oil Spill Clean-Up A company that helped provide clean-up services after the 2010 oil spill caused by BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster has filed a lawsuit against the petroleum company for millions of dollars for failing to pay workers compensation costs. Fluor Corp. is suing British Petroleum (BP) for violating a contractual agreement and failing to pay litigation costs that Fluor incurred from workers comp claims. A subsidiary of Fluor agreed to help BP clean up the Gulf of … [Read more...]
Fines Issued To Apple Store Contractors
June 10, 2014 by
Apple Store Contractors Fined for Failing to Provide Workers Comp Coverage The Connecticut Department of Labor has issued fines against three contractor companies that work with a local Apple Store after discovering that the companies failed to provide workers comp coverage for their employees. The state agency said it would investigate other Apple stores and their employment contractors for potential workers' comp violations. Gary Pechie, the agency’s director of wage and workplace standards, said that the DOL put a “stop work” poster … [Read more...]
Commission Cracks Down on Workers Compensation Fraud
June 9, 2014 by
Tennessee Cracks Down on Employer Workers' Comp Fraud in the Construction Industry The Tennessee Department of Labor announced that it has been expanding its efforts to uncover employer workers compensation fraud in the construction industry in order to better protect workers in the construction industry who are entitled to file a workers compensation claim. The Workers Compensation Division has implemented new procedures to identify potential workers comp and payroll fraud such as intentionally misclassifying workers as independent … [Read more...]
Louisiana Workers Comp Bill Against Saints Shelved
May 30, 2014 by
Louisiana Shelves Workers Comp Bill Changing Rules for Football Louisiana lawmakers have decided to shelve a bill that would change workers comp rules for football players, after the debate between New Orleans’ Saints owner Tom Benson and the NFL Player’s Association became heated. Representative Chris Broadwater (R-Hammond) said on Tuesday, May 27th that the state’s lawmakers would shelve the workers comp proposal in the hopes that the team and its owner can come to an agreement instead. The proposed changes to the state’s workers comp … [Read more...]
NFL Players Union Blasts Louisiana Workers Comp Bill
May 20, 2014 by
NFL Players Association Fights Changes to Louisiana Workers Comp The New Orleans Saints recently supported a bill that changed workers comp premium payouts for football players, and now the NFL Players Association is fighting back. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said of the legislation, which passed the Louisiana House of Representatives on May 7th, that the workers comp changes “specifically targets professional athletes, to take away or limit their workers’ compensation benefits.” The workers comp legislation proposes to … [Read more...]
