Quote of the day
"This Court's holding ... improperly extends that immunity to non-employer premises (plant) owners The Legislature has never authorized such an extension, never intended to provide such an extension, and, in fact, has repeatedly rejected such an extension."
A brief by four Texas legislators to the Texas Supreme Court, opposing its recent unanimous opinion expanding the ability of plant owners to seek liability protection from workplace accidents under the state's workers' comp laws
Central Valley Restaurant Owners Deny Charges
Three other owners of Modesto and Stockton Mallard’s restaurants turn themselves in to San Joaquin County authorities shortly before an arraignment hearing for the family patriarch, and all four plead not guilty to 36 criminal counts of fraud and tax evasion. The California Department of Industrial Relations’ fine of $100,000 for failing to carry workers’ comp insurance remains unpaid, according to agency spokesman Dean Fryer. By Joe Goldeen, Stockton Record [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Lone Star Lawmakers Petition State Supremes over Liability Shield
A bipartisan group of four Texas legislators ask the Texas Supreme Court to reverse its recent decision that, the Texas AFL-CIO and some trial lawyers contend, gives refineries and industrial plants new protection against liability claims from injured contract workers. The lawmakers say the Texas Workers Compensation Act provides immunity to employers who have purchased workers’ comp insurance for direct employees, and the court wrongly expanded that immunity. By Clay Robison, Houston Chronicle
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TDI Lauds San Antonio School District’s Claims Management
A San Antonio school district’s workers’ compensation staff earns special recognition for its ability to manage claims, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. San Antonio Business Journal
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Illegal Immigrant Goes Home as Attorneys Try to Settle
A 22-year-old illegal immigrant worker who was maimed in a chainsaw accident, deported before he could pursue a workers’ compensation claim, but allowed to return to Rhode Island on a humanitarian visa to do so, goes back to Mexico as his lawyers edge closer to a settlement with his former employer, a tree service firm. By Karen Lee Ziner, Providence Journal
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Carpenter Wins $3.4 Million for Nailgun Accident
A jury in Hartford, Conn., awards a construction worker $3.4 million in connection with serious injuries he suffered when a nail became embedded in his brain as he worked with a nail gun. The 51-year-old worker is partially paralyzed and has seizures and other medical problems related to the incident. By AP via Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.)
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Hoosier State Union Officials Blasts Workers’ Comp Benefits
“We are 49 out of 50 states in this country in reference to workers’ compensation benefits. It’s that plain and simple,” says keynote speaker Ken Zeller, president of Indiana AFL-CIO, at a workers’ compensation seminar in Northwest Indiana. By Paul Myers, Gary Post-Tribune
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Nova Scotia Vows to Respect Ruling on Chronic Pain Benefits
According to the province’s labor minister, Nova Scotia will respect a recent appellate court decision that workers who were injured and developed chronic pain on the job before April 17, 1985, should be assessed for Workers’ Compensation Board benefits. CBC News
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New York County Considers Self-Insurance Plan
The Cayuga County, N.Y., Legislature Ways and Means Committee considers switching from traditional workers’ compensation insurance to a self-funded model in order to create a cheaper coverage option for municipalities and volunteer fire departments. Workers comp represents about 42 percent of the $1.15 million the county plans to spend on all its insurance coverage next year. By Shane M. Liebler, the Citizen (Auburn, N.Y.)
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