California’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board is proposing changes to its Rules of Practice and Procedure. The proposed updates would formalize and make permanent the option for holding remote hearings and electronic filings/electronic signatures. Rules for objecting to remote hearings is also on the agenda. The current processes were put in place in response to the …
California workers’ comp insurance carriers collectively report an underwriting profit of 19.4%. Workers’ Comp Executive reported on profitability last July in this article replete with charts and graphs, but development …
In a case with lessons for all agency owners, a California Court of Appeal upheld a preliminary injunction won by a Huntington Beach brokerage against both three former employees and …
One thing is clear about marijuana in the workplace: “It is unsafe to be under the influence of cannabis while working in a safety-sensitive position,” says the National Safety Council. NSC found – what common sense tells us – that such impairment can lead to injury or death for both operators under the influence and …
From the mail room at Industrial Indemnity to the CEO suites at Pacific Compensation Insurance Company, Fremont Compensation Insurance Group, and Employers Direct Insurance Company, James E. Little has played a vital role in shaping the California workers’ comp industry. The veteran executive is continuing to contribute as a principal consultant with Triunfo Creek Associates …
Gaffney and Katherine (Kelly) W. Dodd to become Commissioners on the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. The Appeals Board is effectively equal to the “Superior Court,” and the California Court of Appeals hears appeals from its decisions. Gaffney is not an attorney. He has no experience in the workers’ comp system. While Dodd is an attorney, …
Steve Poizner, is jumping into the 2018 race to reclaim the office of California Insurance Commissioner. Poizner previously held the position from 2007 through 2011 as a Republican but is running, this time, as an independent. In 2007, he was the only Republican elected statewide. Poizner confirmed the details to Workers’ Comp Executive, “I am …
Applicant attorney Robert Mclaughlin’s argument which could have weakened California’s workers’ comp reforms has failed. He argued that the state’s utilization review and independent medical review processes do not apply to decisions made by physicians in an employer’s medical provider network (MPN). McLaughlin practices in San Diego. The Fourth District Court of Appeal held that …