Quote of the day
“It’s better today … we have a better approach … Nobody was trying to put money in their pocket, that would have been the kiss of death and then I would have had to fire all kinds of people.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, regarding the state’s contracting problems, following a report by investigators into the fixing of two contracts awarded by the state Department of Administrative Services
Columbus Dispatch
Consultants steered Ohio IT contracts, report finds
According to an Ohio Inspector General report, two highly-paid state consultants working under no-bid contracts apparently rigged contracts, including for IT work at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation beginning in 2015, to steer them to one of their companies. Columbus Dispatch
North Carolina lawmakers reject another workers’ comp panel nominee
Republican legislators on Thursday voted down another of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s candidates, Judge Robby Hassell of Greensboro, for a seat designated for a representative of employers’ interests on the North Carolina Industrial Commission. The position remains vacant on the six-member commission. Greensboro News & Record
Court: ‘Poorly written’ policy means insurer on hook for $4M
An Illinois appeals court has ruled a man injured in a car accident could claim up to $4 million in underinsured motorist coverage under his employer’s policy, rather than $250,000, and that the policy was “poorly written” and “ambiguous.” The insurance company initially denied coverage because the plaintiff was also covered by workers’ compensation. Cook County Record
Third Circuit rules for employer in termination case
A federal appeals court has ruled that a former maintenance mechanic at a battery manufacturing plant who was fired for allegedly damaging a company laptop failed to establish a causal connection between his termination and a disabling knee injury he suffered in 2012. The plaintiff claimed that even though he was restored to his position, he was disciplined for taking time off to recover from a second surgery, and that he had been wrongly accused of throwing an object at a company laptop and damaging it. Legal Intelligencer
Doctors who first tested diplomats after Cuba ‘health attacks’ doubt concussion theory
The Miami doctors who first treated U.S. diplomats in Havana after exposure to an unknown energy source found of neurological, cognitive and emotional symptoms unlike the concussions reported by another group of physicians. The U.S. government has branded the incidents as “health attacks” that affected more than two dozen diplomats and intelligence agents. Canada has reported 13 other cases at its Havana embassy. GazetteXtra