Quote of the day
"Creating a presumption gives it an elevated status. If their work caused their condition, then workers' comp covers them now."
Wallingford, Conn., Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., questioning why heart and hypertension and disease claims should be handled differently than other workers' compensation benefits
Go to the full story in the Record-Journal (Meriden, Conn.)
Hearings Continue in Smurfit-Stone Case
A protracted preliminary hearing continues for three Salinas professionals charged with worker’s compensation fraud in a Salinas courtroom. Twenty-nine workers have alleged that a Smurfit-Stone plant and human resources managers, in addition to a physician’s assistant, conspired to deny them workers’ compensation benefits. By Virginia Hennessey, Monterey Herald
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San Francisco: ‘Health Care Paradox’
What does homicide in San Francisco’s Western Addition have to do with the closure of the workers’ compensation clinic at San Francisco General Hospital?
By Sasha J. Cuttler, San Francisco Bay Guardian
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Rally at Constitution State Capitol over Benefits Expansion
A wave of blue descends on the Connecticut state capitol on as emergency personnel lobby for legislation to expand workers’ compensation benefits. But city and town officials also rally to oppose the bill that’s before the Labor and Public Employees Committee. By Adam Wittenberg, Record-Journal (Meriden, Conn.)
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Q&A: Claimant’s Job Eliminated
Q.I hurt myself on the job a couple of months ago I just heard through the grapevine that my job is being eliminated. Can my employer do that while I am out on workers’ comp? Springfield Republican
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Canada: Workers’ Comp Changes Loom in the North
Changes to the Workers’ Compensation Act in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, including a large increase in lump sum payments to spouses of deceased workers, take effect in April 1. Another notable change to the act is the readjusting of timelines around Appeals Tribunal processes. Canadian Occupational Health & Safety News
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Legislative Hearing on WSI Yields Few Employee Voices
The North Dakota Legislature’s Industry, Business and Labor Committee hears reports about state workers’ compensation agency Workforce Safety and Insurance at its Bismarck headquarters. But most employees reportedly do not speak up about the troubled agency’s problems.
Go to the full story by Dale Wetzel, AP via Grand Forks Herald [may require registration] Go to the full story in KXNet (Minot)