Quote of the day
“Unless I missed a memo, I’m not aware of any long-term effects from COVID after people have fully recovered. The recovery period takes a little longer in some than others, but I’m not aware of any long-term effects.”
New Jersey Sen. Paul Sarlo, who says he doesn’t expect the number of essential employees who die from work-related COVID infections to grow unexpectedly in the future
New Jersey may boost workers’ comp death benefits for essential employees
Dependents of essential employees who die in the course of employment due to contracting COVID-19 would receive extra workers’ compensation under a bill that was scheduled for a vote at Monday’s New Jersey Senate session. New Jersey 101.5
Texas justices rule on workers’ comp controversy
Ruling on the matter of a trucker who was killed in a 2012 crash, the Texas Supreme Court recently ruled that a trucker’s family can only collect workers’ compensation and not sue the company for damages, despite that the decedent was “extremely tired and exhausted,” according to the complaint. The court ruled that “being overworked in an unsafe job environment is insufficient” to establish intent. Land Line
Oklahoma: County renews workers’ comp
The Cherokee County, Oklahoma Board of Commissioners this week approved a full payment of nearly $183,000 for a workers’ compensation insurance quote renewal, for the fiscal year. Tahlequah Daily Press
Can the Arkansas governor do what he did this week?
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued three executive orders this week to protect businesses from lawsuits should employees or customers claim a business caused them to catch COVID-19. Can he do this? Arkansas Times
Medical marijuana reimbursement in workers’ comp
Should workers’ comp programs have the ability to reimburse the cost of medical marijuana for injured workers? George Flores discusses his article “Lewis and Bourgoin: The Growing Divide Over Reimbursement for Medical Marijuana in the Workers’ Compensation System,” which won the 2019 writing contest for the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers. Legal Talk Network [with audio]