Quote of the day
"By the time he gets anything, the way this has been going, he'll be dead.... What they're really doing is dragging his case out as long as they can, and when they finally have to pay him, they'll say, 'I'm sorry, the money is gone.'"
Laura Picurro, wife of World Trade Center recovery worker Joe Picurro, who has yet to receive compensation for a breathing ailment from the Sept. 11 volunteers fund, which the New York Workers' Compensation Board administers
Oregon High Court Rejects Challenge to Comp System
The Oregon Supreme Court unanimously rejects a challenge to the state workers’ compensation system as the only legal recourse when a workplace injury results in death. The justices decided Friday on narrow legal grounds that the family of a 56-year-old miner, who was fatally struck in June 2000 by a backhoe bucket, were not automatically entitled to sue for negligence. By Peter Wong, Salem Statesman Journal
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Will World Trade Center Volunteer Live to Be Compensated?
A 39-year-old New Jersey ironworker who developed breathing problems after working for nearly a month in the Ground Zero recovery effort after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may die before he gets any compensation for his illness, his family contends. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who has helped the family secure the compensation, calls the delay “unconscionable.” By Michael McAuliffe, New York Daily News
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Insurers Not Cracking Down on Premium Fraud
Insurers need to do a better job of detecting and preventing premium fraud, especially in the workers’ compensation arena, say some industry experts. When carriers do commit the money to go after individuals and businesses, those costs usually trickle down to consumers. By Tamarind Phinisee, San Antonio Business Journal via MSNBC
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Attorney Gives Lowdown on North Carolina Comp Law
A North Carolina lawyer provides a rundown of what employees who file workers’ compensation claims should know about coverage, filing requirements and general rules. By Mike Wells, Winston-Salem Journal
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Technology, Enforcement Credited with Penalty Collection in Rhody
Improved computer tracking and more aggressive enforcement enabled Rhode Island investigators last year to collect nearly $500,000 in penalties from employers in the state who failed to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. The amount of penalties collected has more than quadrupled since the state cracked down on violators after the deadly Station nightclub inferno of 2003. By Lynn Arditi, Providence Journal
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Eighth Circuit Affirms Judgment in Retaliation Suit
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of Watertown, N.Y.-based Car-Freshener Corp., which was sued by a former employee who claims she was fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim. By Josh Cable, Occupational Hazards
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Former Corrections Officer Named in Suit Files Comp Claim
A Mississippi corrections officer who was fired more than two months after the February fatal beating of a jail inmate files a workers’ compensation claim for an injury she claims occurred on the same date. The guard is one of six identified in a wrongful death lawsuit for allegedly beating, hog-tying and torturing the inmate. By Robin Fitzgerald, Gulfport – Biloxi Sun Herald
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Court Rules in Favor of Injured Nunavut Miner
In Canada’s northern reaches, a Nunavut court upholds the authority of an independent tribunal to rule on appeals from the provincial Workers’ Compensation Board, ruling in favor of an injured miner who sued to have his employment insurance benefits considered part of his lost income. CBC.ca via Yahoo! Canada News
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Lower Comp Costs Free Up Cash for Honolulu
Honolulu city officials said there will be $5 million more in the city treasury this year as a result of lower workers’ compensation costs and closing the books on some old expenses. By Robbie Dingeman, Honolulu Advertiser
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Bay State Agency Cuts Workers’ Comp Fee
The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, which oversees the workers’ compensation system and covers uninsured workers, cuts the rate it charges employers for fiscal 2007. The move, effective July 1, is expected to save Massachusetts employers a total of $2.5 million for the year. By Andrew Manuse, MetroWest Daily News
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