Quote of the day
"Even though the bill passed earlier this year represented a big step forward, it fell short on the idea of making clear that workers' compensation awards should be based upon objective standards, something we're addressing today with this order."
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, in a statement accompanying his executive order mandating objective standards for workers' comp benefits
Rialto Man Arrested on Suspected Workers’ Comp Fraud
A 25-year-old Rialto man turns himself in to authorities on suspicion of felony workers’ compensation insurance fraud after a surveillance tape shows him lifting wooden pallets into the back of his truck. By Wes Woods II, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
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Mississippi Court Denies Workers’ Comp to Family of Slain Trucker
The Mississippi Supreme Court rules that a trucker killed during a 2003 robbery at a Wyoming truck stop does not qualify for workers compensation, rejecting his family’s argument that he was acting as an employee at the time. According to the court, the trucker was not on the job when he was sitting in a bar, drinking and playing pool for 11 hours while his truck was being fixed. By Jack Elliott Jr., AP via Sun Herald (Gulfport – Biloxi, Miss.)
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Michigan’s 2008 Pure Premium Rates Decline
Michigan businesses will see their pure premium rates for workers’ compensation insurance drop in 2008 by more than 4 percent, part of a downward trend over the past decade in which the average rate has dropped nearly 36 percent. By AP via Detroit Free Press
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Objective Standards Ordered in Palmetto State
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford signs an executive order mandating objective standards for workers’ compensation benefits, a key piece of business-friendly workers’ comp reform that was not part of the state’s recent legislation. Workers’ comp rulings in the state have varied wildly, averaging more than 80 percent higher than awards made in other states that follow similar guidelines, according to the governor.
Go to the full story in the Greenville Tribune-Times
Go to the full story by AP via Myrtle Beach Sun
BP Settles First Civil Trial
As it awaits the results of a criminal investigation into what led to the March 2005 Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 contractors and injured at least 170 others, BP settles with four plaintiffs in the first civil trial to emerge from the disaster. Fed-OSHA last year issued citations alleging 300 safety violations and handed down a record $21.3 million fine. By Kristen Hays, Houston Chronicle
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Controversial Pittsburgh Workers’ Comp Case Finally Goes to Trial
After more than a year of depositions, discussions, and debates, a contentious and much-anticipated workers’ compensation case involving a former Pennsylvania road worker’s back injury is scheduled to start Monday in federal court in Pittsburgh. By Karamagi Rujumba, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Fort Lauderdale Settles with Former Cop
Fort Lauderdale city commissioners unanimously agree to settle a former police officer’s workers’ compensation case by paying him $850,000 for injuries he suffered in a New Year’s Eve 2003 motorcycle accident that have since kept him off work. South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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Texas Insurers, Attorneys Powwow on Post-Reform System
Lawyers and insurance agents convene in Austin in an attempt to unravel the Lone Star State’s post-reform workers compensation system. According to Steve Nichols, staff liaison for the state Workers’ Compensation Committee, injured workers in the only state that does not require businesses to carry workers’ comp insurance lack a “voice” in the system. By Katie Flores, Daily Texan [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Ohio BWC Offers Relief for Flood Victims
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation announces that employers in northwest Ohio counties that were part of a declared state of emergency during recent flooding may be eligible for relief on workers’ comp premiums. Toledo Blade
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