Quote of the day
"Why do you think I did this? CN and the Workers Compensation Board have been screwing us CN workers for years. Make us work injured. I'm just trying to get some attention. I want something done about this. I've been working since '85 with an injured back."
Brent Gordon Wood, to reporters during his arrest for allegedly causing a February bomb scare in downtown Winnipeg
Judge Orders San Mateo to Reinstate Police Officer
A former San Mateo police sergeant, who was deemed unfit for duty in 2003 when department officials criticized his role in a police chase, could get his job back after a judge emphatically rules that the city improperly fired him. The officer claimed that he was being unfairly targeted and filed a workers’ compensation claim for stress and depression. By Will Oremus, Redwood City Daily News
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CN Worker’s Bomb Scare a Cry for Help
An injured CN Rail employee who says he has had to work with an injured back and shoulder for years, and whose workers’ compensation claim was rejected, will not have a criminal record for allegedly causing a three-hour bomb scare that paralyzed downtown Winnipeg in February. By Canadian Press via OHS Canada
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Japan: Family of Harassed Worker Who Killed Himself Wins Workers’ Comp
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a Japanese court awards workers’ compensation to the family of a 35-year-old man who hanged himself in 2003 after suffering months of harassment by his boss. According to a letter the worker wrote shortly before his suicide, the abuse included his boss telling him, “You are an annoyance to everyone,” “I can’t believe you found a wife who married you,” and “Just go and disappear.” News24 (South Africa)
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Witness: Indicted Investment Manager Had Little Contact with BWC
Pittsburgh investment manager Mark Lay, who is standing trial for fraud in connection with the loss of $216 million in Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation funds, told Ohio officials precious little about his handling of a risky hedge fund, filing one-line monthly reports, an investigator testifies. Prosecutors contend Lay overstepped his agreement with the BWC and concealed the risks from the agency’s investment staff.
Go to the full story by Mark Rollenhagen, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Go to the full story by Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch
Go to the full story by Len Boselovic, Toledo Blade [With Photos]
Timing of BWC’s Group Rating Statement Riles Business Groups
Uncertainty has shrouded the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s group rating program since the agency’s late September announcement that it may cut the maximum premium discount given to qualifying companies. “The bureau dropped a bombshell in the middle of the enrollment period,” says Roger Geiger, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business’ Ohio chapter. By Jeff Bell, Columbus Business First
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Is Executive Order ‘Intimidation’ of South Carolina Workers’ Comp Commission?
A Charleston workers’ compensation lawyer says he has formally requested that South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster investigate whether Gov. Mark Sanford’s recent executive order, which directs state workers’ comp commissioners to use objective standards in determining awards, amounts to intimidation of a court official. Some insurance and business executives say Sanford’s order will make the system more predictable. By Tim Smith, Greenville News
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