Quote of the day
"It's not like we're inventing a new concept as it applies to the workers' comp arena."
Mike Casey, general counsel for the Vermont State Employees Association union, which seeks to create a rebuttable presumption in a workers' comp case that some employees' illnesses were caused by working in a Bennington state office building
Go to the full story in WCAX-TV (Burlington, Vt.)
Note to our subscribers: In honor of Presidents Day, the Workers’ Comp Executive News Digest will not publish an edition on Monday, Feb. 19, 2007. We will resume publication Tuesday, Feb. 20.
Bay Area Shuttle Business Owners Charged with Fraud
The owners of a Bay Area shuttle company are accused of bilking the state and an insurance carrier out of more than $3 million by underreporting revenue and wages and underpaying their workers’ compensation insurance. If convicted on all counts, they face more than 15 years in prison.
Go to the full story by Marisa Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle
Go to the full story by John Woolfolk, San Jose Mercury News
Vermont Moves Workers from Sick Building But Rejects Presumption
A bill in the Vermont Senate would create a rebuttable presumption that some state employees contracted the rare, debilitating illness sarcoidosis from working in a Bennington office building from which they’ve since been moved. But Gov. Jim Douglas’ administration is reportedly concerned about the precedent such a bill would set and whether there is a sufficient connection between the building and the disease.
Go to the full story by AP via WCAX-TV (Burlington, Vt.)
Go to the full story by Neal Goswami, Bennington Banner
Nuke Workers’ Records May Need to Be Dug Up
A NIOSH official says records buried at a radioactive-waste landfill in New Mexico may need to be unearthed in order to determine whether cancer-stricken workers at the former Mound nuclear weapons plant near Dayton, Ohio qualify for federal compensation. By AP via WHIO-TV (Dayton)
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Aussie Watchdog Accuses James Hardie of Misleading Investors
Australia’s securities regulator sues building products maker James Hardie Industries, claiming the company misled investors over the cost of compensating victims of asbestos poisoning. But unions do not expect the litigation to affect the compensation package. By Miriam Steffens, Bloomberg
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Illinois Worker Alleges Unlawful Post-Claim Firing
An Illinois woman sues her former employer, claiming she was illegally fired after filing a workers’ compensation claim. She is seeking more than $200,000 in compensatory and $300,000 in punitive damages. By Ann Knef, Madison – St. Clair Record
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Montana State Fund to Look for New Site
The Helena, Mont., school board tables a resolution that would allow the district to take offers to purchase a location that Montana State Fund had been considering for its new facility. By Alana Listoe, Helena Independent Record
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Commentary: Cronyism at Beacon
Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri maintains that his actions over the last year regarding the state’s dominant workers’ compensation insurer Beacon Mutual, including the appointment of a crony as president and chief executive, have been motivated by the public interest. To some, it makes the case that Beacon should be a private, for-profit business. Providence Journal
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BrickStreet Hires Chairman’s Daughter
West Virginia’s exclusive workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. hires its chairman’s daughter as an ombudsman. A spokesman for the insurer says the daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin’s appointee Skip Tarasuk “underwent the same application and screening process as every other BrickStreet employee.” By George Hohmann, Charleston Gazette
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Commentary: Garden State Should Follow Empire State on Ground Zero Workers
New Jersey unfortunately has yet to follow the lead of New York, which allows Ground Zero workers who later contracted asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, asbestosis, mesothelioma or cancer to file claims as occupational diseases, and extends the filing period to two years from their date of disablement, rather than the date of exposure. Home News Tribune (East Brunswick, N.J.)
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