Quote of the day
"I am absolutely shocked the Senate is taking this up. This bill would truly be devastating."
Bonnie Stewart, Connecticut Business and Industry Association vice president of government affairs, regarding the state senate's vote to expand workers' comp benefits
Feds to Visit Santa Susana; Critics Decry Slow Settlements
Labor Department officials will be in Simi Valley this week to conduct information sessions for current and former workers of Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory on eligibility for compensation and medical benefits under the 2000 Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, last month introduced a bill for workers who can link their illnesses to their jobs at the former nuclear research facility. Critics point out that only 11 percent of claims by 1,150 Rocketydyne employees and their families have thus far been settled. By Gregory W. Griggs, Los Angeles Times
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Carmel’s Comp Costs Trending Downward
Workers’ compensation cost Carmel taxpayers nearly $271,000 in the nine months that ended March 31, and that’s $70,000 less than the same period two years ago, says the city’s human resource manager Jane Miller. The low number of new claims shows improvement in how the city handles them and trains employees, Miller contends. By Mary Brownfield, Carmel Pine Cone
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Constitution State Lawmakers Approve Controversial Comp Bill
The Connecticut Senate votes to expand workers’ compensation benefits, despite opposition from business advocates who claim the bill would merely line the pockets of lawyers and hurt employers, who already face some of the highest workers’ comp costs in the country, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. Proponents call the proposal a “modest step” toward giving injured workers their “fair share.”
Go to the full story by Ken Dixon, Connecticut Post
Go to the full story by Susan Haigh, AP via Hartford Courant
Colorado Worker Stomps ‘Wooden Leg Argument’
Despite an 81-year-old Colorado legal precedent against awarding workers’ compensation when an employee injures an artificial body part, a 53-year-old appliance repairman who injured his hip prosthesis on the job in 2005 wins in court. Last week, the Colorado Court of Appeals dismissed the so-called “wooden-leg argument,” at least as it applies to internal prostheses. By Howard Pankratz, Denver Post
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Rhody Officials Eye Employer Who Allegedly Had Injured Illegal Worker Deported
Rhode Island officials want to penalize the owner of a tree service for failing to cover employees with workers’ compensation insurance in response to a chainsaw incident that injured an illegal immigrant who. The worker claims his former employer called immigration agents and had him arrested outside the courthouse last August before he could pursue a workers’ compensation claim. By Karen Lee Ziner, Providence Journal
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South Australia Jockeys Have First Workers’ Comp Coverage
In South Australia, horse jockeys for the first time are covered by workers’ compensation laws during their trackwork, barrier trials and at race meetings. Adelaide Advertiser
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