KY - Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Coverage for Replacement of Worker's Arthritic Knee
03/28/2023 | 0
The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously upheld an award of benefits for a worker’s knee replacement surgery.
Mark Campbell worked for the Perry County Board of Education. He fell while attempting to hang a banner in the Perry County High School gymnasium in April 2018.
He first saw the school nurse, then went to a hospital for assessment and treatment that same day. Medical staff closed an open wound on his head, then performed preliminary scans on his shoulder and knee.
The radiology report indicated that Campbell's knee had mild changes from arthritis, as well as a...
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A New York appellate court upheld a grant of summary judgment to a worker on his Labor Law claim for his injuries from being struck by the legs and beam of a sidewalk shed as they fell.
Case: Iuculano v. City of New York, No. 151380/20, 03/21/2023, published.
Facts: Andrew Iuculano suffered injuries while working on a crew to assemble a sidewalk shed.
According to Iuculano, he and his foreman and several co-workers raised a set of vertical legs and a horizontal beam to form one side of the shed before he went about cleaning garbage and debris on the job site. He had been cleaning for 1...
AL - Auto Parts Maker Must Pay More Than $1M for Worker's Death
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has affirmed more than $1 million in fines against an Alabama automotive parts manufacturer after the 2016 workplace death of a 20-year-old machine operator who had worked at the plant for only about three months.
In a decision posted Thursday, the commission affirmed penalties against Cusseta-based Joon LLC, doing business as Ajin USA, over the June 19, 2016, death, which occurred one day after the woman suffered serious injuries when a robotic arm struck her as she attempted to troubleshoot a piece of malfunctioned equipment.
The Oc...
The federal Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs has updated its policy in the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program to further streamline claims processing for federal firefighters with certain occupational diseases.
FECA Bulletin 23-05 builds on changes made last year and further implements provisions of the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.
In April 2022, OWCP changed the policy to ease the evidentiary requirement for federal firefighters to connect their exposure to toxic substances with certain diseas...
Brandon, FL (March 9, 2023) - ReEmployAbility CEO and Founder Debra Livingston will be hosting a free, live Work Comp Central seminar to educate the worker's compensation and risk management industries.
Experienced industry professionals will discuss the role of social factors in recovery and claims costs.
Many industries experience unique return-to-work challenges. When it c...
Aside from another storm getting ready to pound the Bay Area, there’s a smaller storm a-brewin’ in our beloved swamp of workers’ compensation.
The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board has issued an en banc opinion rescinding several emergency procedures put in place in light of the COVID-19 state of emergency in California.
The opinion was issued Wednesday, so presumably, it is effective as of that date and all compromises and releases executed previously are still safe. But, going forward, any C&Rs to be submitted to the WCAB and executed on ...
New research shows that black lung disease is on the rise among modern coal miners.
A recent study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the University of Illinois Chicago found that modern coal miners, particularly those in Central Appalachia, are more likely than their predecessors to die from pneumoconiosis, progressive massive fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
The research used data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Federal Black Lung Program and is described as “the largest existing study on causes of mortality in...
Asha Joseph Jefferson was recently appointed a member of the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Gov. Wes Moore nominated Jefferson, who was confirmed by the state Senate on March 17.
Jefferson is a graduate of Rutgers University with a bachelor's in Political Science and History, and she earned her law degree from the George Washington University Law School.
She has served as a judicial clerk in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County. Jefferson has also worked as an advocate for clients of low and moderate income with civil legal issues invol...
Oregon's Management-Labor Advisement Committee meets Friday.
Matters to be discussed include Workers’ Compensation Board case law updates, rulemaking updates and a 2023 legislation review.
State bills to be discussed include SB 418, which concerns paid time off to receive medical services related to compensable injuries; HB 3412, concerning physician associate authority; and HB 3541, concerning employer liability.
Those who wish to testify or provide comments remotely may sign up by 5 p.m. by emailing Baaba.Ampah@dcbs.oregon.gov. A sign-up sheet will ...
Gilson Daub, a leading workers’ compensation defense and subrogation law firm, announced that Julio E. Martinez joined the organization as managing partner of its headquarters office in San Clemente.
Martinez is an experienced attorney who has managed teams and handled workers’ compensation claims since 2007. He has prioritized diversity and inclusion in the workers' compensation industry throughout his career.
In August 2022, he was appointed to the board of the Hispanic Insurance & Risk Management Association as its directo...
The California Department of Insurance announced that it will hold a public hearing on April 24 to consider the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California's Sept. 1, 2023, regulatory filing.
WCIRB submitted the filing on proposed insurance classification and rating rules to CDI on Feb. 27.
The 10 a.m. virtual hearing will be conducted online and by telephone.
Written comments on the proposed regulations will be accepted through 5 p.m. April 24. Comments should be addressed to Yvonne.Hauscarriague@insurance.ca.gov or Patricia.Hein@insu...
A bill that would permit injured workers and/or surviving family members to sue another employee following a workplace incident that is found to be the result of gross negligence or a crime is set to be considered by the Maine Senate today.
LD 1385 would amend workers' compensation law to provide “that an employee who intentionally or with gross negligence or while committing a criminal act causes another employee’s injury or death is not exempt from civil actions.”
The proposal states that if the injured employee or the employee’s beneficiary recovers d...
The Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled that a worker was entitled to benefits for his recovery period from a back surgery even though it had not been authorized by his authorized treating physician.
Gary Jaynes is a master electrician. He suffered injuries while working for Tempworks Management Services Inc. in 2017 when he was 55 years old.
The Workers' Compensation Commission found Jaynes was entitled to an 11% impairment rating to his body as a whole and a 10% wage-loss disability.
In November 2020, the commission heard Jaynes’ request for temporary total disability...
An Ohio appellate court ruled that an injured worker’s award of attorney fees for a 2016 injury was subject to a statutory cap of $4,200.
Case: Russell v. McCloud, Nos. 2022-T-0017 and 2022-T-0048, 03/20/2023, published.
Facts and procedural history: Calvin Russell worked for the Ravenna Ohio Department of Transportation Mail Stop 1520. He filed a workers’ compensation claim for an alleged back injury he sustained in October 2016.
After Russell’s claim was denied and he was unable to obtain administrative relief, he filed an appeal in the Trumbull County Cou...
A man who became trapped in a machine at a Bulls Gap, Tennessee, manufacturing plant died from his injuries on March 19, according to the Citizen Tribune of Morristown.
His identity has not been released publicly.
First responders were called to the Barette Outdoor Living facility at about 11 a.m. on Sunday after a worker became trapped in a piece of machinery at the site.
The employee was freed from the equipment before emergency crews arrived. He was treated on the scene and then flown to a hospital but died later in the day from multiple injuries.
No other details were reporte...
A lawn service company has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over claims it allowed employees to operate industrial lawnmowers without proper safety features during work at a U.S. Army base.
OSHA on Friday announced proposed penalties of $198,667 against Roseville, California-based PRIDE Industries, which had been contracted to do lawn care work at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in September 2022.
The company “willfully allowed” workers to operate zero-turn radius mowers without belt guards installed, and it put employees at risk of crushing injuries or de...
An employee at an ice cream shop in Corvallis, Oregon, lost three fingers in a workplace accident on March 15, according to ABC TV affiliate KEZI in Springfield.
Using information taken from a GoFundMe account set up by her family, the station reported that 21-year-old Jordyn Martin was cleaning an ice cream machine at a Cold Stone Creamery when the rotors pulled her dominant hand, in which she was holding a towel, into the machine’s blades, severing three fingers.
The post claimed Cold Stone had previously failed an inspection partly because...
