Quote of the day
"I've been getting a lot of questions from first responders lately. The interest level is way up. Some of them think a pile of money is going to fall out of the sky and help them with their bills. I'm not saying give everyone a million dollars, but damn, I want what I had on Sept. 10."
John Feal, a Ground Zero demolition supervisor who lost part of his foot at the site and now is an activist and organizer among thousands of former Sept. 11 workers.
Sick Sept. 11 Responders Test Democrats Clout
After years of bashing the Bush administration for failing sick Sept. 11 responders, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her fellow New York Democrats face a major test of their clout in Congress: whether they can deliver health care to Ground Zero workers. Many believe such health care will devour hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars annually. By Devlin Barrett, AP via Newsday
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How Will Kansas Ruling on Whole Body Injuries Affect Workers?
Labor officials in Kansas, which already ranks 45th in the nation in compensating injured workers, say a recent Kansas Supreme Court decision on whole body impairment is cause for alarm. The low-key ruling nevertheless overturns 76 years of precedent and by all accounts will make it more difficult for some injured workers to collect benefits. Lawrence Journal-World
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Alabama Appellate Court Limits Jury’s Workers’ Comp Award
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals rules that a jury went too far in awarding workers’ compensation benefits to a Huntsville pharmaceutical plant worker. Citing previous Alabama Supreme Court rulings, the court ruled that the injured worker should have been compensated only for the permanent partial loss of his foot, not a whole body injury. By Bob Lowry, Huntsville Times
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Senators: John Q. Public Pays for Misclassified Workers
Illinois Sens. Barack Obama and Dick Durbin, both Democrats, argue that many businesses use a little-known federal tax loophole to misclassify workers as independent contractors rather than employees in order to pay less in employment taxes and workers’ compensation. They say the practice shifts the employer’s tax burden to workers as if they were self-employed, meaning higher taxes for working-class Americans and a growing tax gap. By Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Dick Durbin, Chicago Sun-Times
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Illness Postpones Trial in Famous Ohio Football Town
A court battle over workers’ compensation benefits for a former Massillon Tiger football standout and strength and conditioning coach who suffered a fatal heart attack at work in 2004 is moved back after a party to the lawsuit becomes ill. The coach’s widow claims he was in the course of employment during his workout, which immediately preceded his collapse; education officials contend he was not required to adhere to a fitness regimen. By R.J. Villella, Massillon Independent
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Navajo Election Supervisors Consider Workers’ Comp
Having long displayed an interest in coverage, the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors looks into joining the Navajo Nation’s worker’s compensation program. By John Christian Hopkins, Gallup Independent
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Motor City Air Traffic Controllers Sue over Mold Exposure
Detroit Metro Airport air traffic controllers sue several Federal Aviation Administration contractors on grounds that the controllers suffered exposure to toxic black mold as a result of an improper cleanup operation. A previous suit against the FAA in connection with the mold was dismissed. By Margarita Gauza, Detroit Free Press
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Employers Sweat Tennessee Court’s Ruling on Roundball Games
Tennessee employers who encourage workers to exercise during breaks might be concerned about a recent Tennessee Supreme Court ruling that the widow of an employee who died as a result of a regular basketball game, which the employer knew about and in which supervisors sometimes played, can collect workers’ compensation. By Pamela Reeves, Knoxville News Sentinel
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Lawmaker Wants Public Hearing on BrickStreet
Complaints from employers and injured workers and reports of misspending spur West Virginia State Del. Mel Kessler to demand a public hearing on BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., the state’s exclusive workers’ compensation insurer, in addition to a status report on frustrated claimants who have sought his help. Kessler also says he will try to get a bad-faith clause installed in the workers’ comp system during the 2008 legislative session. By Mannix Porterfield, Beckley Register-Herald
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