Quote of the day
“Just because we’re up here asking questions doesn’t mean we’re against this bill. “You can lecture us and shame us, but I have people in my family who are first responders, ones who have been in officer-involved shootings. I have as much empathy as anyone, but I’m just asking for data.”
Wyoming Senate President Drew Perkins
California senator: AB 5 takes a sledgehammer to worker freedom
The California Legislature and the governor approved Assembly Bill 5 that took effect this year. The law sets an absurd and arbitrary limit on the number of stories a news organization can publish without turning a freelancer into an employee. That is why AB5 needs to be repealed and replaced with a measure that protects Californians from misclassification but allows them to work the way they want to work, writes California state Sen. Patricia Bates. Orange County Register
New York: 83 in voluntary isolation over coronavirus concerns
Officials in Nassau County, New York have announced they are monitoring 83 people who may have had potential exposure to the coronavirus, and test results for one resident are pending. Health officials are urging residents to practice good hygiene, including frequent hand washing, in order to guard against both the flu and coronavirus. WABC (New York) [with video]
Wyoming legislators debate first responders’ mental injury bill
The Wyoming Senate this week spent discussed a bill that would allow first responders, law enforcement officers and search and rescue workers to apply for workers’ compensation if they receive a mental injury while performing official duty. Originally, the bill required that the mental injuries would only be compensable if the first responder submitted to a psychological exam, but a state senator suggested an amendment during the floor session. Oil City News
Report: USPS fired thousands of injured employees
The U.S. Postal Service fired about 44,000 employees or pressured them to leave their jobs over five years in a program that “targeted” employees with work-related injuries, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. More than a decade later, despite a commission’s finding the USPS discriminated against an additional 15,130 injured workers by changing their work duties or accommodations, and unlawfully disclosed the private medical information of injured workers across the country.ruling, the Postal Service is still fighting the class-action complaint. ProPublica
‘What it’s like to go on workers’ comp at age 24’
“The lowest point of my time disabled wasn’t actually from the injury itself, but rather the unnecessary backlash I faced from my workplace,” writes James Barnett, who was injured while working for a New York advertising agency. Redbook