WI - Agreed-Upon Reform Bill Heading to Governor
02/18/2026 | 0
A sweeping workers' compensation reform bill backed by labor and management promising higher benefits, expanded coverage for first responder mental health claims and stiffer penalties for businesses that operate without insurance, is heading to the desk of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
The agreed-upon reforms in AB 651 would also reverse a state high court decision allowing stacking disability percentages, and would clarify that the 12-year filing deadline for occupational disease claims can't be tolled indefinitely.
AB 651 would increase the maximum permanent partial disability be...
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The Illinois Appellate Court upheld an award of benefits for a worker with a prior back injury, finding his current condition was caused by a car accident while working for his new employer.
Case: Engler, Meier & Justus v. Barickello, No. 20-L-050410, 01/30/2026, unpublished.
Facts: John Barickello injured his low back in September 2009 while working for Precision Pipeline LLC.
Barickello received medical treatment from Dr. Martin Herman and underwent back surgery in 2011. He also received pain management treatment from Dr. Zaki Anwar.
In September 2012, Barickello and Precision entere...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of line-of-duty disability benefits under the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act for the death of a firefighter from metastatic colon cancer.
Case: Estate of Tratthen v. Department of General Services, No. 1089 C.D. 2024, 02/02/2026, published.
Facts: Thomas R. Tratthen began working as a volunteer firefighter in the early 1990s. He also worked as a full-time paid firefighter for Dunmore Borough from 2000 to 2007, and then as a part-time paid firefighter for Dunmore Borough until he was diagnosed with metastatic...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld an award of benefits for a worker’s hearing loss from the employer prior to his current one.
Case: Altivia Services LLC v. Boster, No. 25-ICA-206, 02/03/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: James Boster filed a claim for occupational hearing loss in March 2023.
Boster reported exposure to excessive noise while working for Rhone-Poulenc/Union Carbide from 1987 to 1996; for Aventis from 1996 to 2011; for Bayer CropScience from 2000 to 2011; for Dow Chemical from 2011 to 2019; and as an operator for Altivia Service...
Approximately 135 million viewers around the world tuned in to watch the New England Patriots (again!) take on the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara for Super Bowl LX.
Why is this relevant to California workers’ comp?
Glad you asked.
Historically, any football player (or pro basketball player, baseball player, etc.) who had even the slightest contact with California (such as playing in a Super Bowl in Santa Clara) would, at the end of his career, file a CT in California running from the day he became a player to the last time he hung up hi...
A New York appellate court ruled that a Labor Law defendant should have been granted summary judgment dismissing part of a claim against it.
Case: Lacruise v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, No. 150195/19, 01/29/2026, published.
Facts: Anthony Lacruise was working at a construction site at a building owned by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center when his foreman instructed him to work at an outdoor roof setback on the 20th floor.
As Lacruise was walking to the work area, he tripped and fell when he stepped into an uncovered drainage hole that was located in the roof setback.
...
An asbestos-removal contractor faces a stiff fine for knowingly exposing its workers to hazardous materials even though it told state workplace inspectors that a heavily contaminated jobsite was safe.
Seattle Environmental Services LLC was cited in late January for violating more than a dozen rules regarding the safe handling of asbestos, putting workers at serious risk of harm. The company faces more than $200,000 in fines, according to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
L&I inspectors checked on a Belleview home demolition project in ...
The U.S. Department of Labor issued guidance outlining how it will calculate required security deposits for insurers under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, describing the move as regulatory relief through greater transparency.
The guidance does not amend existing regulations. Instead, it formalizes a structured evaluation framework based on credit-rating tiers and other financial metrics that the agency will use when determining collateral requirements.
"This guidance establishes a rubric which allows [the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs] to ad...
The National Council on Compensation Insurance opened registration for its 2026 Annual Insights Symposium, being held May 11-13 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida.
NCCI Chief Actuary Donna Glenn will deliver the annual state-of-the-line report analyzing the latest workers’ compensation financial indicators, trends and cost drivers.
Additional sessions will include a review of the economy and its impact on workers' compensation, a deep dive into demographics and injury patterns, and a session on navigating medical severity and claim outcomes, NCCI said.
There w...
An Ohio appellate court upheld the denial of benefits for a worker for his injuries from a conveyor belt accident due to his marijuana use.
Rolando Del Rosario worked for Fresh Mark Inc. He suffered injuries at work in March 2024 when his glove became caught under a conveyor belt.
Del Rosario was taken to the hospital, where he tested positive for marijuana.
Del Rosario filed a workers’ compensation claim, which both a district hearing officer and staff hearing officer denied.
After the Industrial Commission declined consideration of further administrative appeals, Del Rosario f...
Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a determination that an injured worker was not wrongfully terminated and that she had not been denied due process.
Case: Mathern v. Edward D. Jones & Co., No. CAAP-23-0000369, 01/28/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Allisen Mathern worked for Edward D. Jones & Co. She suffered injuries at work in January 2015 and stopped working in February 2015.
Mathern filed a workers’ compensation claim in April 2015 and began receiving temporary disability benefits.
Jones placed Mathern on federal medical leave in March 2015. After her 12 weeks ...
A New York appellate court ruled that a nurse could not proceed with a civil action against the company that had contracted with her employer for her services.
Case: Jackson v. Laconia Nursing Home Inc., No. 31977/19, 01/29/2026, published.
Facts: Anna Victoria Dell Jackson worked for Towne Nursing Staff Inc., a staffing agency, as a nurse. Towne assigned her to work at Laconia Nursing Home Inc.
The agreement between the companies provided that Towne's nurses were required to abide by all of Laconia's policies and procedures, that Laconia "retain[ed] professional and ...
The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that an Amazon delivery driver who was attacked while making a delivery was entitled to benefits for his injuries.
Case: Avila v. IWCC, No. 2-25-0093WC, 01/27/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Jose Avila worked for I Deliver Logistics, delivering packages in an Amazon truck.
On Aug. 1, 2023, he was driving his truck in Aurora, making deliveries, when a black SUV turned sharply in front of him, causing him to brake suddenly.
Avila alleged that the SUV almost struck a woman who was unloading groceries on the side of the road as well.
Avila honked and made a gestur...
Labor regulators in Montana and Idaho are warning consumers about potential scams.
The Idaho Industrial Commission on Thursday said it has received multiple reports about two workers' compensation scams.
One scheme involves sending notices to people claiming they've been awarded a workers' compensation settlement but must pay a fee to receive the funds. The settlement offers look official, including the Industrial Commission's address, a Department of Labor seal and a judge's signature, but the agency said they are fraudulent.
The other scam involves people falsely ...
The California Workers' Compensation Institute reported that the number of nonfatal work injuries and illnesses returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2024.
Recent results from California’s Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses show a 25.6% increase in nonfatal cases, from about 450,000 in 2021 to about 565,900 in 2022. The number of nonfatal cases then fell 20% over two years, to 472,500 in 2023 and 454,100 in 2024.
Though the changes partly reflected shifts in the labor market, CWCI said the major fluctuations were largely driven by COVID-19 infections reported by employers a...
A California lawmaker is gearing up for a third run at creating a single-payer health care system that once again would defer to an advisory board the question of how to handle medical treatment for workplace injuries.
Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, on Thursday introduced AB 1900, which would create the California Guaranteed Health Care for All program to provide comprehensive, universal single-payer health care coverage.
The bill would also create a nine-member board that would be tasked with organizing, administering, marketing and implementing the single-payer program. The boar...
