MO - Court Overturns Denial of 2nd Injury Fund Benefits to Brewery Worker
10/25/2021 | 0
The Missouri Court of Appeals overturned a denial of benefits from the Second Injury Fund to a brewery worker with a lengthy history of injuries, finding the decision was not supported by competent, substantial evidence.
Mark Lynch worked for the Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. for more than 35 years. Lynch was a brewer in the draft beer and kettle departments and performed physically demanding and repetitive tasks.
Lynch’s duties included cleaning kettles measuring 15- to 20-feet high; carrying 10-gallon buckets of ingredients from another floor and dumping the buckets into th...
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The Connecticut Appellate Court ruled that two police officers who narrowly avoided being struck by a colleague’s patrol vehicle were not entitled to damages for their alleged post-traumatic stress disorder.
Case: Menard v. State, No. AC 42342, 10/19/2021, published.
Facts: Scott Menard, Darren Connolly and Robert Zdrojeski worked as state troopers with the Connecticut State Police.
Connolly was on patrol on Interstate 84 in Hartford in September 2012 and detained a vehicle traveling west due to suspected intoxicated driving.
After reaching the bottom of the exit ramp, Connolly ...
A New York appellate court ruled that an insurance carrier’s alleged participation in settlement negotiations for a third-party claim did not excuse the worker from his statutory duty to obtain the carrier’s written consent.
Case: Matter of DeGennaro v H. Sand & Co. Inc., No. 532166, 10/07/2021, published.
Facts and procedural history: Sergio DeGennaro sustained work-related injuries to his back and knees in 2004 when he was struck by a vehicle insured by the Travelers Insurance Co.
After receiving workers’ compensation benefits from his employer, DeGennaro obtained a ...
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of a police officer’s applications for accidental and performance of duty disability retirement benefits, finding she received a fair hearing and that the evidence did not support a conclusion that her condition was related to an accident that occurred on the job.
Case: Matter of Dowling v. Gardner, No. 532824, 10/07/2021, published.
Facts and procedural history: Karen G. Dowling worked as a police detective. In 2013, she filed applications for accidental and performance of duty disability retirement benefits that were denied on various grou...
Every defense lawyer knows that success in workers’ compensation court is the ultimate team sport. There are many key participants: employers, supervisors, adjusters, counsel, account managers, brokers, experts, IME doctors, physicians, nurse case managers and vendors such as investigators. All play important roles, but more often than not, the adjuster is the quarterback.
It has been my experience that the role of the adjuster is absolutely vital to the outcome of a workers’ compensation case.
There are many dozens of skills needed to be a successful adjuster....
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation announced that three people convicted of working while receiving benefits were ordered to pay more than $44,000 in combined restitution.
Crystal Posey was ordered to pay $30,278 after pleading guilty to one count of work comp fraud. The BWC said Posey worked as an office manager for a chiropractic clinic while receiving work comp benefits.
Davida Taylor was ordered to pay $12,206 after pleading guilty to a single count of work comp fraud. Taylor worked as a clinical technician and patient care nurse assistant while collecting benefits.
Jennifer...
The board of directors for Maine’s MEMIC authorized a $17 million dividend for about 14,000 policyholders.
The average dividend will be $1,180, and more than two dozen employers will receive checks for more than $40,000, the carrier announced.
MEMIC said in a statement that the dividend represents about 12% of earned premium in 2019.
“Had Maine employers not been diligent in following state CDC guidance, this dividend might not have been as large. I truly applaud them and the state’s leadership in effectively communicating and taking difficult measures to keep us all as sa...
The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced that the 2022 assessment on direct earned premium will increase to 9.8% from 9%.
An additional assessment of 0.1% will be charged to self-insured employers and public-sector self-insured employer groups. And an extra 0.5% will be levied on private self-insured employer groups.
The assessment funds operations of the Workers’ Compensation Division, Workers’ Compensation Board, most of the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, a portion of the Division of Financial Regulation and other parts of DCBS.
The ...
A California appellate court ruled that a worker who was fired because of accounting discrepancies in the books she kept failed to state any claim against her former employer that could avoid the exclusive remedy provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act or otherwise be legally viable.
Marian Garcia began working for the Poker Flat Property Owners Association Inc. in 2006 as an office manager. Stacy Halstead was her assistant.
Poker Flat is a property owners' association at Lake Tulloch, governed by an elected board of directors. Poker Flat maintained a boat launch and docks on t...
The Appellate Court of Connecticut upheld an award of benefits to a worker’s widow, finding his compensable injuries led to his development of depression, which led to his suicide.
Case: Orzech v. Giacco Oil Co., No. AC 43941, 10/19/2021, published.
Facts and procedural history: Stanley Orzech began working for the Giacco Oil Co. in 1994. He slipped and fell while making a delivery to a customer in November 2016, suffering injuries to his back, shoulder and knees.
Prior to this, Orzech had long-standing knee issues and was told he would eventually need a replacement of the right ...
A divided Arkansas Court of Appeals overruled its own precedent to find that the continued payment of indemnity benefits will extend the statute of limitations for additional medical benefits.
Case: Wynne v. Liberty Trailer, No. CV-20-699, 10/06/2021, published.
Facts: Terry Wynne worked for Liberty Trailer. He injured his right shoulder while at work in November 2015.
Wynne underwent surgery on Feb. 2, 2016, and again on Feb. 17, 2017, because his condition had not improved. He complained that the second surgery had not helped his condition, and he was sent to physical therapy, which also ...
The Workers Compensation Research Institute published the 2021 edition of its New York workers’ compensation system trends report.
The study, “Monitoring Trends in the New York Workers’ Compensation System,” was originally established to monitor the effects of legislative reforms enacted in 2007. WCRI said it has evolved into a tool to track key metrics of system performance.
“In recent years, New York has implemented several policy changes regarding medical treatment, including medical fee schedule changes, the implementation of a drug formulary for new pre...
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries posted guidance on laws enacted during the 2021 session creating presumptions that COVID-19 is compensable for health care and other frontline workers.
Gov. Jay Inslee in May signed SB 5190 creating the presumption for health care workers diagnosed with COVID-19 since Feb. 29, 2020. The governor also signed SB 5115 creating the presumption for frontline workers diagnosed on or after May 11.
L&I said health care workers include anyone at any health care facility or other organization that provides emergency or medical services and ...
The California Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that the Profile Audit Review performance standard for 2022 is 1.68032.
Audit subjects with a score of 1.68032 or lower will be required to pay any unpaid compensation but will not be assessed administrative penalties. Claims shops with a higher score are subject to an expanded Full Compliance Audit.
The Full Compliance Audit standard for 2022 is 1.95657. Shops that receive a lower score will be ordered to pay unpaid compensation as well as administrative penalties for violations related to late or unpaid benefits.
The DWC wil...
The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation increased the gross annual payroll requirements for coverage of seasonal workers for next year.
The amount for 2022 will be $60,726, an increase of 2.8% from $59,027.
Seasonal workers for agricultural company owners with annual gross payrolls of at least $60,726 will be considered employees covered by the Texas Workers' Compensation Act. Farms and ranches would have limited defenses to lawsuits arising from occupational injuries if they don't have comp coverage for seasonal workers who are considered employees.
The gross annual payro...
The National Council on Compensation Insurance launched a new online training service for affiliates.
NCCI Academy is launching with five curriculum paths covering topics including an introduction to work comp and NCCI, classification basics, experience rating basics, experience rating worksheets and experience rating ownership.
“Carriers have been looking for resources to teach their employees about the workers' compensation industry,” Bill Donnell, NCCI president and CEO, said in a statement. “Designed with input from more than a dozen insurers...
