Quote of the day
"It bothers me to see the number of players who do have disabilities and can't seem to go through the logistics and get the proper funds to deal with it. That's really disheartening to me. I think we have to do significantly more in benefits. I know it's been discussed.''
Mark Bruener, professional football player and member of the National Football League players' union executive committee.
Attorneys Blame Working Conditions for BP Blast
Attorneys for four contract workers who are suing BP for injuries they claim they sustained in the March 2005 Texas City refinery explosion tell jurors that the petroleum giant ignored routine maintenance, overworked employees and failed to install safer equipment in its “rust bucket” of an isomerization unit. The blast has cost the company at least $2 billion in compensation payouts, repairs and lost profit. By Juan A. Lozano, Miami Herald
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Players Rep Feels ‘Tattooed’ over Record on Disabled Retirees
National Football League Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw contends he is being unfairly treated—”branded” and “tattooed,” as he puts it—by injured and disabled former players who blame Upshaw and the union for their inability to get or apply for disability benefits. They also complain that the disability plan’s initial claims committee is made up of individuals with no medical background. By Les Carpenter, Washington Post
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Pennsylvanian Charged with Fraud for Cashing Dead Dad’s Checks
The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office accuses a 41-year-old Allegheny County woman of stealing more than $34,000 in workers’ compensation benefits intended for her deceased father. Times Express
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Penn. County Fires Workers’ Comp Administrator with Ties to Official
Lackawanna County, Pa., fires its workers compensation administrator, a company operated by a longtime friend of and campaign contributor to a county commissioner, after learning that the FBI is investigating over-billing by one of the company’s vendors. By David Singleton and Boris Krawczeniuk, Scranton Times-Tribune [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Commentary: Time to Sting Unethical Beehive State Contractors
In Utah’s construction industry, misclassifying employees as independent contractors and paying them cash “under the table,” with no paperwork or payroll deductions, is so prevalent that state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff rightly is asking the state legislature for money to hire a special prosecutor and a tax-fraud investigator. Salt Lake Tribune
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Governor: West Virginia ‘Open for Business’
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin does his best to lure new workers’ compensation insurance business to the state at a forum this week in Charleston. The state will be open to competition in the workers’ comp system, after 94 years of monopoly, in less than a year. Meanwhile, the system’s $3 billion unfunded liability is rapidly declining and is no longer a significant problem, according to state Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline.
Go to the full story by Steve Korris, West Virginia Record [With Photos] Go to the full story by George Hohmann, Charleston Daily Mail
Opinion: Probe Suicide Links to Workers’ Comp Bureaucracy
The Canadian Injured Workers Society, which tracks anecdotal reports of disabled worker suicides that may be related to a workplace injury or their treatment while on workers’ compensation, contends that there is a possible correlation between injured workers’ suicides and adverse experiences in attempting to collect benefits. By Beth McQuinn-Nixon, Sarnia Observer (Ontario)
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