How Should Employers Treat Workers Comp Claims from Telecommuters? With the rise of the internet, more and more people work from home, “telecommuting” into the office through email, Skype, chats, and shared storage like DropBox and Google Docs. Workers at a home office can still injure themselves while working for their employer, but because of the nebulous line between home and telecommuters, working in telecommuting jobs, workers comp claims become more complicated. A recent survey from WorldatWork showed that 88% of companies offer … [Read more...]
Workers Comp Death Benefits Upheld for Man Who Died on Treadmill
April 30, 2020 by
Workers Comp Death Benefits Still Go To Widow Because Man Was Using Home Office Treadmill The highest workers compensation court in Maine upheld a ruling on Thursday, January 22nd, that the widow of a man who died from a heart attack while using a treadmill in his home office is still entitled to workers comp death benefits. The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously rejected the appeal from the Salvation Army, which claimed that Gregory Sullwold’s widow was not entitled to workers comp death benefits, because her husband died at home and not … [Read more...]
Families Plead for Higher Funeral Costs in Workers Comp Benefits
April 17, 2020 by
Massachusetts Families Plead with Lawmakers for Doubled Funeral Costs in Workers Comp Benefits Deborah King is a classic case in point: her husband died after a severe workplace accident, but the funeral allotment in his workers comp benefits did not cover the full funeral costs. Paul King, Deborah’s husband, was a maintenance subcontractor at Logan Airport, and in 2005, he was electrocuted. Because the Kings were only in their 50’s at the time, neither had made any burial arrangements. "My children and I struggled to get through the … [Read more...]
No Workers Comp Benefits for Paralyzed Car Crash Victim
April 12, 2020 by
Paralyzed Victim Not On Employer’s Time, Workers Comp Benefits Denied A state appeals court ruled that a North Carolina man cannot receive workers comp benefits for a car crash that occurred after he attended a lunch organized by his employer. In 2010, John Graven Jr. worked for the North Carolina Highway Patrol as a technical support analyst. He and co-worker Kathryn Wall attended a lunch that the Highway Patrol organized “to celebrate the department’s hard work.” However, the lunch gathering was not required by the department, and less … [Read more...]
Firefighter Finally Gets Workers Comp Disability Benefits
March 9, 2020 by
Judge Says Firefighter Wrongfully Denied Workers Comp Disability After receiving a serious personal injury while trying to save two people from a house fire, a firefighter in New Jersey has finally been granted his workers comp disability pension, although the benefits were originally denied because his work-related injury was not an “accident.” James Moran, a resident of New Jersey, was dispatched in early January 2010 to a house that appeared to be deserted, but was on fire. Before the truck company could arrive, however, Moran heard … [Read more...]
9/11 Responder Gets to Keep Workers Comp Benefits for PTSD
January 30, 2020 by
NYC-Based First Responder Gets to Keep Workers Comp Benefits to Treat 9/11-Caused PTSD After a long appeals process, a New York City first responder will, according to an appellate court, get to keep workers comp benefits to treat his on-going PTSD, which he developed due to his role in responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Albany, New York state appellate court ruled in January that Richard A. Regan was entitled to keep his workers comp benefits to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder, thereby upholding a decision made by the … [Read more...]
Workers Comp Denied for Mesothelioma in WA State
September 26, 2014 by
Washington State Supreme Court Rules No Workers Comp for Mesothelioma Case On Thursday, September 18th, the Supreme Court of Washington State found that a worker who died in 2013 of mesothelioma caused by working in one of Boeing’s plants was not eligible for workers comp, as Boeing could not know the conditions would cause the disease. The workers comp appeal was originally brought forth by Gary Walston, a former employee of Boeing who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2010. Walston claimed that, while working for Boeing from 1956 to … [Read more...]
New Workers Comp Bill Could Protect Sandy Hook Victims
March 24, 2014 by
Witnesses and Victims of the Sandy Hook Shooting Could Receive Expanded Workers Comp Public employees and teachers who witnessed the horrible Sandy Hook school shooting could, thanks to a new bill passed by the Connecticut Legislature, receive expanded workers comp benefits. While some benefits were expanded just after the terrible tragedy in 2012, payments did not cover continued mental health treatment needed to help emergency workers and teachers at the school recover from their post-traumatic stress disorder and return to … [Read more...]
Chase Says Workers Comp and Unemployment Debit Cards Hacked
December 12, 2013 by
Hacked Debit Cards Could Expose Pennsylvanians Receiving Workers Comp or Unemployment On Thursday, December 5th, JP Morgan Chase in Pennsylvania announced that several of its prepaid debit and credit cards, issued to Pennsylvanians receiving unemployment or workers comp benefits, had been hacked. The hack attack effects holders of prepaid debit cards across multiple states, but Pennsylvania one of very few states that allows those cards, with Chase’s cooperation, as a method of collecting state benefits, including unemployment and workers … [Read more...]
New Study Tracks NY Workers Comp Reform Success
November 5, 2013 by
Workers Comp Reforms Made in New York in 2007 Now Tracked By Study to Measure Success The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) has released the results of a study that tracked changes made in the New York workers compensation system in 2007, to measure the success or failure of changes. The new study, “Monitoring Changes in New York after the 2007 Reforms,” is the latest edition of an annual report that tracks metrics of the performance of the state’s workers comp system after it was overhauled in 2007. Overall, the reforms … [Read more...]
