Quote of the day
"Very early in the process, [Ohio] Gov. Strickland decided it would be important for not only he but also the entire incoming administration to have a thorough understanding of exactly what a Strickland administration would be inheriting."
Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey, about review teams' investigations of state agencies, including the Bureau of Workers' Compensation
Salt Lake Must Pay Off-Duty Officer
The Utah Supreme Court rules that Salt Lake City must pay workers’ compensation to an off-duty police officer who was injured in a car crash outside Salt Lake County, determining that the city benefited sufficiently from her commute to be liable. By Jeremiah Stettler, Salt Lake Tribune
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Family of Police Who Died After Heard Attack Sues Connecticut City
The family of a 51-year-old Stamford, Conn., police sergeant, who died one week after suffering a heart attack on the job, sues the city for alleged negligence in training officers in CPR and the use of heart defibrillators. But the city’s director of legal affairs says such lawsuits typically do not succeed due to the workers’ compensation system. By Natasha Lee, Norwalk Advocate
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Missouri City Official Goes to Lockup for Insurance Kickbacks
A former Berkeley, Mo., city manager is sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison Friday for accepting $32,500 in kickbacks to steer the city’s workers’ compensation and property and casualty insurance business to a specific company. By Robert Patrick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Gov’s Review Teams Want Broader Probe of Ohio BWC
Volunteer teams that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has tasked with evaluating certain state agencies to determine what his administration is inheriting call for broader investigations into the scandal-rocked Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The report suggests a series of possible task forces and audits, including one looking into allegations of “cherry-picking” in deciding which employers enjoy lower group-rate premiums for good safety track records. By Jim Provance, Toledo Blade
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Mahoning Valley Firms Owe $10,000 to BWC
Several Mahoning Valley companies are among 83 reported last week as delinquent on their premiums, according to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The companies reportedly owe the agency at least $10,000 in premiums. By Raymond L. Smith, Tribune Chronicle (Warren, Ohio)
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Opinion: Delaware Assembly Must Get It Done Now
New objections surfaced late last week to certain aspects of Delaware Senate Bill 1, the state’s workers’ compensation reform bill. However, it is crucial that the state Assembly pass the bill now, and amend it as necessary later in the session, in order to ease some of the highest comp rates in the nation and make the state more attractive to new industry. News Journal (Wilmington, Del.)
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Aussie Ruling Clarifies Time-Off Terminations
In Australia, injured workers win greater protection against getting fired while on leave for a work injury, as a federal court rules that absence on paid workers’ compensation leave falls within the definition of paid sick leave under the Howard government’s Work Choices reforms. By Samantha Maiden, the Australian
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Canada: Compensation Urged for ‘Bystander’ Asbestos Victims
As family members of Canadian workers sickened by asbestos discover their own serious lung disorders and diseases, which doctors say were triggered by the poisonous dust brought home by the workers, an Ontario occupational health clinic director argues that compensation boards should recognize that the families suffer from work-related diseases. CTV [With Photos] Go to the Full Story…