AR - Substantial Evidence Supports Worker's Award of Additional Treatment, TTD
09/26/2023 | 0
The Arkansas Court of Appeals upheld an award of additional treatment and temporary total disability benefits to a fast food cook for his injuries from assisting a customer who had fallen at his restaurant.
Jimmy Key III worked as a cook for McDonald’s. While he was at work in November 2019, a customer fell in the restaurant. Key was directed to help the customer up, and as he lifted the person, he allegedly felt a popping sensation in his back.
Key informed his assistant manager that he was hurt, and he called his grandmother for a ride to the hospital.
The emergency room...
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The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a denial of a pain management referral and expansion of a worker’s claim.
Case: Beavers v. McDowell County Board of Education, No. 21-1005, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Pamela H. Beavers worked as a secretary for the McDowell County Board of Education. She filed a report of injury stating she had hurt herself in a fall in the parking lot of the high school at which she worked.
Physician assistant Kelly Belt signed the report of injury, stating Beavers had sustained blunt force trauma to her right arm and shoulder.
Beavers had X-rays taken, and ...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a denial of permanent total disability benefits for a longtime coal industry employee with a history of multiple work injuries.
Case: McDaniel v. ANR Inc., No. 21-1006, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Darrell McDaniel spent 41 years working in coal mines and suffered multiple work-related injuries.
In May 2019, McDaniel filed a permanent total disability application indicating that he had been awarded 63.37% in permanent partial disability benefits from his various occupational injuries and diseases.
His claim was referred to the Permanent Total Di...
A New York appellate court ruled that an engineering and consulting firm for a bridge rehabilitation and painting project was not entitled to summary judgment dismissing the indemnification and contribution claims against it arising from a worker’s injuries.
Case: Flood v. Ahern Painting Contractors Inc., No. 2020-09654, 09/20/2023, published.
Facts and procedural history: Hughie Flood worked for the New York City Department of Transportation, Division of Bridges. He allegedly suffered injuries when he fell from a Brooklyn Bridge cable that had been defectively painted and treated...
Here are a few quick takeaways from the National Comp event in Las Vegas:
Don’t know what total attendance was, but seemed somewhat lower than in pre-COVID years. Exhibit hall corridors were pretty empty despite sessions located around the exhibits.
The newest thing du jour: artificial intelligence. Sessions on AI, vendors promoting various applications, attendees mentioning AI in conversations about claims, data interpretation, claim intake, you name it.
Nurse triage: Just stop. Far too many are touting nurse triage, almost all withou...
The California Workers’ Compensation Institute on Monday published a new study finding that paid losses on lost-time claims fell immediately after the reforms of SB 863 took effect at the start of 2013, then gradually increased until the pandemic hit.
The result is that average paid losses on claims at all valuation points within 60 months of injury are higher than their post-reform lows, CWCI said. Only the most developed data on older claims from accident year 2016 is still showing declines in loss payments as a result of the most recent reforms.
CWCI reports that average total paid ...
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined an Oklahoma contractor $82,149 following an investigation into the trench collapse that killed a project manager at a work site.
OSHA said the project manager and workers employed by Rocking L Dozer and Land Management LLC were placing gravel around a sewer line in McAlester in May when the trench collapsed.
The federal workplace safety agency said the employer failed to secure obstacles on the surface near the trench, failed to provide safe entry or exit to the trench, allowed standing water in the trench and failed to per...
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry announced that benefits will be increasing 3.89%, effective Oct. 1, because of an increase in the state’s average weekly wage.
The average wage in Minnesota climbed to $1,337 from $1,287, the department said in the September edition of its Compact newsletter.
Maximum benefits, which are equal to 102% of the state’s average wage, will increase to $1,363.74 from $1,312.74.
The minimum benefit, which is equal to 20% of the average wage, is increasing to $272.75 from $262.55.
And the minimum permanent total disability benefit is i...
The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation is seeking input on ways to improve stakeholder meetings it holds with insurance carriers and health care providers.
The division holds quarterly meetings with insurers and doctors to provide updates on routine information and to highlight current issues specific to each industry.
The DWC recently posted an online survey to gather input from system users on ways to improve the meetings and facilitate open communication between the division and system participants.
DWC is asking stakeholders to complete the survey, available here, by Fr...
The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation published the latest edition of its newsletter aimed at promoting workplace safety.
The new edition of the agency’s “Safety@Work” newsletter includes an article on protecting workers from crystalline silica hazards.
DWC reported that about 2.3 million workers in the U.S. are exposed to crystalline silica, a common mineral found in many construction and industrial materials. Workers who inhale dust from cutting or grinding this mineral are at an increased risk of developing serious silica-related diseases. The newsletter...
The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that a worker’s death or injury from COVID-19 is compensable where the statutory requirements for compensability are met.
Kenneth Zerby worked for Western Millwork as a design engineer. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Western kept its employees working at the office regularly but established safety protocols based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
Zerby had undergone a kidney transplant in 2003 and took immunosuppressants. He was also diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Zerby was nervous about contracting COVID-19, so he took pre...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a denial of benefits for a worker’s alleged knee injury.
Case: Lambert v. Contura Energy Inc., No. 21-0868, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Tracey Lambert allegedly injured his left knee in July 2020 while working for Contura Energy Inc.
Lambert’s medical records indicate he previously reported a left knee injury from a fall in September 2019. He also reported a left knee injury from a misstep in June 2020.
Lambert had an orthopedic surgical consultation with Dr. John E. Traynham in August 2020. Traynham diagnosed Lambert with suspected inte...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the denial of a worker’s request to expand the scope of her claim and for additional treatment.
Case: Lambert v. American Bottling Co., No. 21-0996, 09/14/2023, published.
Facts: Tara Lambert worked for American Bottling Co. as a truck driver. She filed a report of injury, claiming she was “kicked on the back of a two-wheeler” in April 2018.
Lambert was seen at MedExpress for right calf pain and swelling, and she was advised to go to the emergency room for a venous duplex study.
Dr. John Tabit saw Lambert in July 2018. His asses...
A New York appellate court overturned a grant of summary judgment to an insurance carrier on its claims for payment under its workers' compensation and employers' liability policies.
Case: Alliance National Insurance Co. v. Hagler, No. 2019-09344, 09/20/2023, published.
Facts and procedural history: Alliance National Insurance Co. filed suit against Bridge Healthcare LLC, Church Healthcare LLC and White Horse Healthcare LLC for failing to make certain payments due under their workers' compensation and employers' liability policies.
Alliance then move...
FL - Contractor Cited After Worker's Fatal Fall
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Friday that it cited a Florida contractor following the fatal fall of a worker through a roof in March.
OSHA cited Hialeah-based Sealed Tight Roofing Inc. for one willful violation and two serious violations and proposed $84,379 in fines.
The worker was killed in a 40-foot fall while working on a commercial property in Miami Gardens.
OSHA said Sealed Tight Roofing failed to provide employees with adequate fall protection or personal fall arrest systems and also failed to install covers or guardrails around holes in the roof.
The c...
The National Council on Compensation Insurance is proposing an average 9.8% reduction in voluntary loss costs for Connecticut, effective Jan. 1.
At the same time, NCCI is proposing an average decrease of 10.5% to the assigned risk rate level.
The filing is based on premium and loss experience for policy years 2020-2022 and excludes claims for COVID-19.
NCCI said the primary driver of the proposal is improved experience.
Lost-time claim frequency has generally been declining in the state. Although claims increased in policy years 2020 and 2021, frequency declined a cumulative 5% over the pe...
