Quote of the day
"I would be really surprised they got a check for sick-leave payout if they were getting disability. I have no idea of how that would ever be done."
Yvonne Deckard, the director of the Portland, Ore. Bureau of Human Resources, when asked why the city made such payments to police officers on disability
Washington Trooper Denies Fishing-Related Comp Theft
A Washington state trooper who worked on his commercial fishing boat while on disability leave for an injured wrist pleads not guilty to charges that he falsely claimed $20,000 in workers compensation benefits. The 35-year-old trooper continued to receive his wages and says he signed over the workers comp benefits for seven months until he returned to work. By AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Portland Makes Sick Leave Payments to Cops on Disability
Over the past five years the city of Portland has paid out $119,000 in unused sick leave to 15 police officers while they were collecting monthly disability payments, and no one at City Hall can explain why. By Maxine Bernstein, Sunday Oregonian via Officer.com
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Arkansas to See Rate Cut Next Month
Workers’ compensation rates in Arkansas will decline effective July 1, keeping the state at a stable market, according to the Arkansas Insurance Department. The overall loss cost level changes for industries will be a .5 percent decrease, and the assigned risk rate change will be a 2 percent decrease. Baxter (Ark.) Bulletin
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Arkansas Court Overturns Workers’ Comp Commission
In Little Rock, the Arkansas Court of Appeals overturns a decision by the state Workers’ Compensation Commission that a worker who suffered carpal tunnel syndrome can collect worker’s compensation, ruling that she failed to show that her injury was a result of rapid and repetitive work. By AP via WREG-TV (Memphis)
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Special Session Possible in Delaware
A Delaware Senate committee has approved a bill restructuring the state’s workers compensation system, but one state senator says a special legislative session may be needed to work out all the issues. WGMD Radio (Rehoboth Beach, Del.)
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Sedgwick CMS Holdings to Acquire Third Party Administrator
Sedgwick CMS Holdings Inc. has announced that it will acquire Ohio-based CompManagement Inc. a third-party administrator for workers’ comp, disability and other employee-related insurance, for $191.5 million. Memphis Business Journal
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Auto Glass Employee Files Retaliatory Discharge
A former auto glass shop worker files a retaliatory discharge suit in Madison County, Ill., alleging he was fired after receiving workers’ compensation benefits. By Steve Gonzales, Madison County Record
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Judge Pushes Back Coin Dealer’s Trial
An Ohio judge agrees to delay the trial of former Toledo area coin dealer and politically-connected GOP fundraiser Tom Noe from last August to mid-October, but denies a request to move the proceeding out of Toledo. Prosecutors in February charged Noe with 53 felony counts for his role in allegedly looting the rare-coin fund he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Toledo Blade [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
BWC Probe Leads Back to Pension Funds, Ohio Treasury
The investigation into bribery for investment contracts at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation leads authorities back to the state’s pension funds and the state treasury. A list of the top 10 to 15 brokers doing business with the BWC contains many of the same firms that handle investments for state pension funds and the Ohio Treasurer’s Office, contends a prosecutor.
Go to the full story by Julie Carr Smyth, AP via Akron Beacon Journal
Go to the full story by Mark Niquette and James Nash, Columbus Dispatch
Ohio BWC to Provide $5 Million to Mine Industry for Black Lung
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation plans to provide $5 million in workplace safety grants to the state’s coal-mining industry to help fight black lung disease. If approved, the program will provide 34 employers who participate in the Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund with up to $135,000 to buy equipment to combat respiratory illness and fatalities.
Go to the full story by Mary Beth Lane, Columbus Dispatch
Go to the full story by Michael Schuler, Times Leader (Martins Ferry, Ohio)
Tennessee Insurer Reborn as Workers’ Comp Provider
Brentwood Services Holdings Inc. acquires the shell and licenses of Nashville’s defunct medical malpractice insurer Century American Insurance Co., planning to refocus the new company on providing workers’ compensation insurance. Nashville Business Journal
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