Quote of the day
"We've been getting calls literally every five minutes since these ads started running."
South Carolina attorney Chad McGowan, who is attempting to initiate a landmark workers' comp case against a now-shuttered manufacturer on behalf of potentially cancer-stricken former employees
State Fund to Sponsor Comprehensive Safety Seminar This Week
State Compensation Insurance Fund will sponsor a comprehensive safety seminar, “De-Mystify Safety Compliance” in Santa Rosa this Wednesday, August 29. The free seminar is designed to give employers insight into safety compliance by presenting them with legal, Cal/OSHA, and safety perspectives. Workers’ Comp Executive
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Preliminary Hearing for WSI Execs on Disclosure Charges
Although a judge recently threw out felony charges, chief executive officer Sandy Blunt and Romi Leingang, manager of the agency’s special investigation unit, both face one count of conspiracy to commit disclosure of confidential information. They allegedly misused a Department of Transportation contract that allows access to driver’s license photos in an attempt to identify the sender of a companywide e-mail that disclosed salary information. By Crystal R. Reid, Bismarck Tribune
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South Carolina Attorney Pursues Landmark Workers’ Comp Case
A Rock Hill, S.C. attorney meets with more than 700 former employees who may have been exposed to benzene and toluene at Celanese Acetate, a now-shuttered plant that produced materials used in home furnishings, suit linings and cigarette filters. A lawsuit against the company could be one of the largest workers’ compensation cases in Palmetto State history.
Go to the full story by Matt Garfield, Rock Hill Herald
Go to the full story by AP via WIS-TV (Columbia)
South Carolina County Improves Safety Numbers, Cuts Costs
Only five years ago, Georgetown County, S.C. ranked nearly last of all participants in the S.C. Counties Workers Compensation Trust. Since then the county has hired a full-time risk assessment manager, implemented several employee safety programs and now is expected to save taxpayers about $370,000 thanks to an improved rating. By Aliana Ramos, Myrtle Beach Sun
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Ohio BWC Oversight Board Meets for First Time
Seeking to move the embattled bureau past the scandals that have defined it for the past several years, the state Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s new 11-member board meets for the first time just two days after the Ohio Inspector General concludes that a former bureau official arbitrarily cut premium rates of favored Ohio employers. By Paul Wilson, Columbus Dispatch [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Beacon Gets Extension to Pay Fine Installment
The Rhode Island Department of Business regulation agrees to extend today’s original deadline for Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., the state’s dominant workers’ compensation insurer, to pay the first half of a $1 million fine for violating state insurance law. The two-week extension is intended to allow a judge to rule on a motion in a suit to halt all payments under a state-approved agreement to refund policyholders $7 million. By Lynn Arditi, Providence Journal
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Dupont Worker’s Death in Heat Exchanger Spurs Lawsuit
The family of a worker who was killed last month while extracting a heat exchanger at the Dupont plant in Orange, Texas, files a wrongful death suit, alleging 34 acts of negligence against the employer including failure to provide competent personnel, perform a job safety analysis or warn of the dangers of heat exchangers. By David Yates, Southeast Texas Record
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FAA Tech Gets Prison in Workers’ Comp Fraud
A former Federal Aviation Administration electronics technician gets a year in federal prison for his fraudulent receipt of $100,000 in federal workers’ compensation for a purported neck injury while running an aviation-related business on the side and failing to report income. South Jersey News Online
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