Quote of the day
"If we fail to recognize a claim for retaliatory demotion, it would create an incentive for employers to merely demote, rather than discharge, employees who exercise their rights."
The Nebraska Supreme Court, ruling that employers cannot demote employees for filing workers' comp claims.
Note to our subscribers: Due to Providence Publications’ editorial staff’s annual summer vacation, the Workers’ Comp Executive News Digest will resume publication Monday, July 23.
Sting Burns Five Tahoe Contractors
Five individuals are arrested following an undercover sting targeting unlicensed contractors in the aftermath of the Angora fire at South Lake Tahoe. In addition to licenses, the five also lacked workers’ compensation insurance and were caught trying to win $500 contracts to begin repairing a damaged home.
Go to the full story in NBC11 (San Jose) [With Video and Slideshow] Go to the full story by AP via Orange County Register [With Map] Go to the full story Gilbert Chan, Sacramento Bee
City Report Blasts San Jose Public Safety Officers’ Injury Pensions
A San Jose city manager’s report disputes claims by San Jose firefighters and police that staffing and poor working conditions are to the cause of a higher rate of disability retirements than any other large California city. Unlike most cities, San Jose police and firefighters’ disability pensions are not reduced by pre-retirement workers’ compensation; according to the report, that’s an incentive to seek disability pensions. By John Woolfolk, San Jose Mercury News
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Conn. High Court Bucks Trend in Dockworker Case, Says Maritime Insurer
A ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court essentially increases employers’ exposure for injured waterfront workers by making employers concurrently liable under state and federal laws. The ruling runs counter to a growing trend of state court findings that benefits should be provided exclusively under either the state or the federal law, says an American Equity Underwriters Inc. official. By Roberto Ceniceros, Business Insurance
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Expert: Tangible Metrics Key to Holding Down Comp Costs
To reduce workers’ compensation expenses and better serve injured employees, employers need to measure factors that truly drive claims costs, and understand that insurers don’t always provide this critical data. By Frank Pennachio, Occupational Hazards
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Nebraska High Court: Retaliatory Demotion Also Illegal
The Nebraska Supreme Court rules that businesses cannot demote employees in retaliation for filing workers’ compensation claims. This ruling adds to 2003 precedent allowing employees to sue, alleging they were fired in retaliation for filing a workers’ comp claim. By Josh Funk, Fremont Tribune
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Former Firefighter Charged with Fraud
An Albany, N.Y.-area man is nabbed for allegedly stealing more than $50,000 in workers’ compensation benefits. The 48-year-old former airport firefighter, who claimed he could not work after a job-related fall, allegedly responded to more than a thousand volunteer fire calls and worked at a pizza restaurant. Capital9 News (Albany) [With Video] Go to the Full Story…