Quote of the day
"This statute has been in place a long time. Players never challenged it. It was just kind of always assumed by everybody that players had to make the choice of either their contract or their workers' comp benefits. Because they make so much money, obviously, they're going to typically choose their contract benefits. It never was an issue until Chad said he shouldn't have to make a decision."
Barry Hasten, attorney for the Dallas Cowboys' insurer, regarding former player Chad Hennings's challenge to Texas workers' comp law.
Officials Slam Door on Unlicensed Central Valley Contractor
State investigators shut down a Visalia garage door and insulation company and arrest its owner for allegedly working under the contractor’s license of a dead man. Harvey Torgeson, 60, also faces charges of failure to secure workers’ compensation insurance. Visalia Times-Delta
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Illinois Budget Deadlock Holds Up Workers’ Comp Checks
As a direct result of the two-months-and-counting failure of Illinois lawmakers to pass a budget, nearly 400 totally disabled former state employees and dependents of workers who died on the job will not get their workers’ compensation checks on time. By John O’Connor, AP via Springfield Journal-Register
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Former Pro Vows to Appeal Workers’ Comp Fight to Texas High Court
Former Dallas Cowboy defensive lineman Chad Hennings, who was part of three Super Bowl-winning teams, loses his latest court battle to get professional athletes the right to collect workers’ compensation in Texas. By Charean Williams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Analyst: Zenith Stock Could Start Rising
Workers’ comp insurer Zenith National Insurance is trading closer to its nadir these days: shares are down 20 percent from their June highs. An analyst discusses whether the stock provides value at current levels. By David Peltier, Asbury Park Press
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BrickStreet CEO Responds to Criticism
Until West Virginia workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual must compete with outside carriers, president and CEO Greg Burton says the company continues to improve the system for injured workers and employers. Here, Burton responds to a state delegate’s recent criticisms, which include high staff salaries. By Mannix Porterfield, Beckley Register-Herald
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Tennessee Firm to Take Mountain State Workers’ Comp Claims
Nashville, Tenn.-based Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. wins an open-ended contract to take over about 36,000 West Virginia workers’ compensation claims next year. Since December 2006, Cambridge Integrated Services Group Inc. of Boston, through a subcontracting agreement with BrickStreet Mutual, has managed them. By Joe Morris, Charleston Gazette/Sunday Gazette Mail
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Officials Balk at Digging Up Contaminated Documents
NIOSH officials say it’s not necessary to spend a possible $9 million and 18 months to unearth contaminated documents from a New Mexico radioactive waste landfill in order to determine whether cancer-stricken workers from a former Ohio nuclear weapons plant are eligible for federal compensation. Worker advocates maintain the buried logbooks and safety reports could help prove workers were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. By AP via Cincinnati Post
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