Quote of the day
"This is a guy who graduated from Cal-Berkeley with a degree in business administration and now can't work."
Cy Smith, attorney, for former pro football player Ben Lynch, who is suing the National Football League's retirement and disability plan for allegedly denying him full benefits.
Ninth Circuit Remands Case of Shipboard Photographer
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals finds that a photographer who took and sold photos of visitors to the USS Arizona is not covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, which provides benefits for workers who load, unload, repair or build boats and ships, remanding the case for further review. Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
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Former NFL Lineman: Plan Wrongly Denied Disability Benefits
One day after his attorney appeared in front of a congressional committee studying disability benefits for former professional football players, former lineman Ben Lynch sues the National Football League’s retirement and disability plan, claiming that administrators improperly denied full disability benefits on grounds that his disabilities were not the result of an “active” football injury. By Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun
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Survey Finds Mixed Feelings at North Dakota’s Troubled WSI Agency
Most employees of North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance distrust senior managers and believe department policies often are applied unfairly, but enjoy their jobs and think they are treated well by front-line supervisors, a new survey in response to a state audit of the workers’ comp agency concludes. Currently, WSI’s chief executive officer and its director of special investigations face charges of conspiracy to disclose confidential information.
Go to the full story by Dale Wetzel, AP via Fargo Forum
Go to the full story by Dale Wetzel, AP via Forbes
Opinion: BWC’s ‘Cavalier’ Approach to Data Security Won’t Fly
Protecting personal data should be a priority of the Strickland administration, in the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and throughout the state government bureaucracy, but a lackadaisical attitude persists from the Taft administration. That much is clear from the recent fiasco involving a stolen BWC laptop computer containing personal and medical records of injured workers. Toledo Blade
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New Mexico Court Boosts Son’s Share of Sept. 11 Comp Fund
The New Mexico Court of Appeals issues a ruling in a dispute between the son and the widow of a flight attendant killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, increasing the son’s share of nearly $770,000 allocated from a special victims’ compensation fund. By AP via Las Cruces Sun-News
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Tulsa Officials Eye Disparity in Workers’ Comp Claims
What’s behind the vast gap in trends for workers’ compensation claims between Tulsa and Oklahoma City employees. City officials don’t know, and they’re mulling hiring a risk manager to figure it out. Urban Tulsa Weekly
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Australia: No Comp Levy, No Teacher Strike
Teachers in South Australia call off a strike after the state government abandons plans to charge schools a workers’ compensation levy. A union estimated that a 1-percent levy would take an average of more than USD $42,000 from each school’s budget. ABC News (Australia)
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