Quote of the day
"Within 12 hours of being involved with the program, we had our first injury."
Lodi parks superintendent Steve Dutra, about the San Joaquin County Alternative Work Program, which puts convicted criminals to work
Poochigian’s Report on Workers’ Comp System
State Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, author of SB 899, runs down the status of workers’ compensation in California. By Chuck Poochigian via KHTS AM (Santa Clarita)
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Convict Injured as Central Valley Work Program Kicks Off
On Oct. 31, the second day the city of Lodi began participating in San Joaquin County’s Alternative Work Program, one of the jail-provided laborers claimed he suffered a hip injury while picking up trash on a football field and subsequently filed a workers’ compensation claim against the city. City workers reportedly suspect that he jail faked his injury. By Jeff Hood, Stockton Record
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Clock Ticking for Sept. 11 Responders to File with New York WCB
Only a fraction of the tens of thousands of paid workers and volunteers who participated in rescue, recovery or cleanup efforts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have registered with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board to remain eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for future illnesses. By Todd B. Bates, Cherry Hill (N.J.) Courier Post
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Ohio Woman Cops to Cashing Dead Father’s Comp Checks
After pleading guilty to fraud charges, a 42-year-old Cleveland woman must repay the state of Ohio more than $20,766 for cashing her father’s workers’ compensation checks for a year after he died. By AP via Akron Beacon Journal
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NIOSH Mulls Hanford Cancer Compensation Petition
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is considering a petition that would set new guidelines to compensate workers at Washington’s Hanford nuclear reservation for cancers caused by radiation. The petition, which was filed by two daughters of a Hanford worker who died at age 47 from colon cancer, would cover all Hanford employees from 1942 though 1990 who developed any of 22 cancers. By AP via KNDO-KNDU (Yakima)
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WCF Declares $20 Million Dividend; Second This Year
Salt Lake City-based Workers Compensation Fund declares a $20 million dividend that will be distributed this month; it follows a $21.5 million dividend distributed in August. WCF says this dividend is the result of lower-than-anticipated claims expenses, primarily attributable to fewer catastrophic claims. Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
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Will Spitzer Follow Through on His Promise?
The Jamestown Post-Journal agrees with the New York Workers’ Compensation Action Network that Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer “knows the problem inside and out,” and that Spitzer has it within his means to deliver on his campaign promises to solve a problem that undermines the Empire State’s business competitiveness. Post-Journal (Jamestown, N.Y.)
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Texas City Posts Personal Info on Website While Negotiating Comp Coverage
The city of Grand Prairie, Texas, posts employees’ sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, on its website for an entire year as it irons out details of workers’ compensation insurance for city employees. By Bob Greene, WFAA-TV (Dallas)
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Mine Operators Refuse to Cough Up Black-Lung Benefits
Despite multiple federal rulings that black lung disease disabled a West Virginia woman’s late husband, the mine operator that employed him refuses to pay benefits. It’s a common situation in coal country, where only about one of every eight miners is able to pry black lung benefits from the powerful mine companies and their insurers. By Kari Lydersen, New Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.)
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