FL - Carrier Not Liable for Medical Costs Associated With Worker's Travel to Visit Family
03/20/2026 | 0
A Florida appellate court ruled that the costs associated with a tetraplegic worker’s travel to visit family out of state did not qualify for coverage as medical benefits.
Larry Burgess worked for Purple Pride Inc. He suffered injuries in a work-related motor vehicle accident in 2019 that left him tetraplegic. Burgess now requires around-the-clock attendant care.
The insurance provider for Purple Pride accepted liability for Burgess’ injuries and has paid for attendant-care services in Atlanta, where Burgess now resides.
In 2024, Burgess filed a petition for benefits seekin...
Read More
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals overturned an award of permanent total disability benefits to an injured brick mason.
Case: BISCO Refractories Inc. v. Dean, No. CL-2025-0645, 02/27/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Wesley Dean worked for BISCO Refractories Inc. He has spent his entire career working as a brick mason.
In February 2019, Dean fell while working on an elevated platform. He was diagnosed with a left calcaneal fracture and a closed compression fracture of the L-1 lumbar vertebra.
Dean received treatment from Dr. Jerome Ambrosia. In May 2019, Ambrosia opined...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should not have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his alleged injuries from falling from a dumpster.
Case: Carreno v. Chelsea Leaf South Housing Development Fund Corp., No. 155542/17, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts: Joel Oswaldo Ruiz Carreno worked as a laborer on a construction project at a property co-owned by Chelsea Leaf South Housing Development Fund Corp. and Eighth and Seventh GP LLC.
Flatiron Construction Corp. was the manager for the project.
While working, Carreno climbed atop a dumpster to place a tarp over...
A New York appellate court overturned a grant of summary judgment that dismissed a worker’s Labor Law claims arising from a pallet jack accident.
Case: Torres v. 40 East End Ave. Associates LLC, No. 150872/20, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts: Wilson Minaya Torres allegedly suffered injuries as he was guiding a pallet of construction materials being delivered to a worksite.
According to Torres, his co-worker was moving the load using a pallet jack when the wooden part of the pallet broke, and the jack got stuck on the edge of the truck that had delivered the material. Although t...
SACRAMENTO, CA - The Association of Workers' Compensation Professionals (AWCP) is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with WorkCompCentral, the leading online news and information resource dedicated to the workers' compensation...
Private employers and insurers are happy. Claims service entities? Not so much.
That’s the key takeaway from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' summary of injury and illness data, indicating totals dropped 3.1% from 2023 to 2024, continuing the decades-long decline in industrial injuries and illnesses.
Two more data points to ponder:
The percentage of full-time equivalents who got hurt or sick also declined, down to 2.3 per 100 FTEs from 2.4 in 2023.
From 2019 to 2024, the total number of occupational injuries dropped by 343,000, almost 13%.
Caveat: ...
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that an insurance carrier that covered an assigned risk employer was entitled to reimbursement from the Compensation Rating Bureau for its settlement of a claim against the employer, plus interest, fees and expenses from litigating its right to be repaid.
The Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau is a private, nonprofit association of all insurance companies licensed to provide workers’ compensation in the state. The bureau administers an assigned risk plan, which connects employers that could not obtain insurance through the voluntary market to a &ldqu...
A ballot initiative proposing to privatize Pinnacol Assurance is poised to go before Colorado voters.
The Colorado Title Board on Wednesday voted 2-1 to approve Initiative No. 249, according to a report by Colorado Politics, but opponents could still file an appeal.
If approved by voters, the initiative would separate the quasi-public Pinnacol from the state, effective July 1, 2027.
The bill would create a job training program — the Skilled Workers and Trades Fund — which would be funded by a one-time $150 million payment from Pinnacol, due June 30, 2027. All state premium taxes...
NATL. - OSHA Launches Tiered Program to Boost Workplace Safety
The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced a new initiative aimed at helping employers strengthen workplace safety programs through a structured, voluntary approach.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Safety Champions program is designed as a cooperative effort to guide employers in building and improving safety and health programs, with an emphasis on preventing workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
According to the agency, the program uses a tiered framework with three levels — introductory, intermediate and advanced — allowing employers to ...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was entitled to the benefit of a change in the law that relieved her of the burden to prove an attachment to the labor market.
Bonnie Blake suffered injuries to her neck and shoulder while at work in 2000.
In 2011, Blake was classified with a permanent partial disability, but she received no benefits because she was working and had no causally related lost earnings.
In 2013, her employer’s insurance carrier was discharged from liability, which was transferred to the Special Fund for Reopened Cases.
In 2017, Blake injured her neck an...
A Louisiana appellate court upheld the dismissal of a worker’s civil claims arising from a work-related car accident as time-barred.
Case: Leteff v. Estate of Yocum, No. 56,672-CA, 02/25/2026, published.
Facts: Donald Coleman and Jason Leteff worked for the Franklin Parish Police Jury. Coleman was riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by Jason Leteff in November 2021 when they were rear-ended by a vehicle driven by Trebor Yocum.
Coleman and Leteff were acting in the course and scope of their employment when the accident occurred.
Procedural history: In November 2022, Leteff ...
The District of Columbia’s highest court upheld a determination that a hospital worker was entitled to temporary total disability benefits for her bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
Case: Howard University Hospital v. DOES, No. 24-AA-0279, 02/26/2026, published.
Facts: Caroline McCall worked as a clinical systems coordinator for Howard University Hospital for more than 20 years.
McCall began experiencing hand and arm pain on her left side in February 2013. By 2016, the pain had spread to both sides, and a doctor diagnosed her with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome caused by “...
A New York appellate court upheld a grant of summary judgment to a worker on his Labor Law claim for his injuries from a fall from a ladder.
Case: Roque v. 240 Lincoln Place LLC, No. 28997/20, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts: Antonio Rosario Roque allegedly suffered injuries while working on a construction project when a 12-foot ladder slipped out from under him.
Procedural history: Roque filed suit against 240 Lincoln Place LLC, asserting a claim for a violation of Labor Law Section 240(1).
Section 240(1) imposes absolute liability on property owners, general contractors or their agents for ...
A former Rikers Island correctional officer admitted to falsely claiming he was injured while on duty following use-of-force incidents with inmates, federal prosecutors in New York announced.
Todd Faustin, 43, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements related to health care matters.
According to the indictment, Faustin submitted at least eight false claims from January 2016 through December 2023.
The indictment says Faustin falsely claimed that he was injured while on duty at Rikers during use-of-force incidents with inmates, and other work tasks. Following...
California lawmakers are proposing to eliminate the requirement that airport firefighters complete a state-mandated training program to qualify for certain workers' compensation presumptions.
SB 1444, introduced Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, would require only that firefighters complete training mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration to qualify for the presumptions signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom less than six months ago.
In October, Newsom signed SB 230, making firefighters at commercial airports regulated by the FAA eligi...
A man who allegedly underreported payroll to fraudulently reduce his workers' compensation premiums was arrested and charged with an organized scheme to commit premium avoidance fraud, the Florida Department of Financial Services announced.
Jacques G. Denomme allegedly used two money services businesses to hide payroll and failed to notify his insurance company of significant payroll changes. The alleged underreporting deprived an insurance company of nearly $1.1 million in premiums, the department said in a statement.
The statement doesn't identify Denomme's company, his li...
A bill introduced in Louisiana would establish a statewide workers' compensation medical claims database and overhaul how provider reimbursements are calculated.
SB 408, introduced Tuesday, would require Louisiana Works, the state’s workers' compensation administration, to create and maintain an “All Workers’ Compensation Medical Claims Database” containing medical and pharmacy claims submitted by all payers in the state. The database is intended to improve transparency in reimbursement trends, monitor utilization and outcomes, and help detect fraud and system ...
