Atlanta's Risk Manager Named to Oversee Chicago's Comp Program

Monday, July 1, 2019 | 0

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has named Atlanta's workers' comp risk manager to overhaul the Windy City's troubled compensation program.

Tamika Puckett
(Insurance Business America)

Tamika Puckett, director of enterprise risk management for the City of Atlanta — a job that oversees workers' comp and property and casualty insurance programs — will head up Lightfoot's newly created Office of Risk Management, according to a Chicago news report.

A big part of Puckett's new duties will be to revamp Chicago's city employee workers' comp program, which has been unaudited for years but has been said to be much more expensive than in other cities. The program has been under the management of the city's longest-serving alderman, who is now under indictment on extortion charges.

“I have a lot of experience managing workers' comp caseloads,” Puckett told a Chicago newspaper. “I think Chicago paid out over $78 million last year, so I’m really interested in taking a deep dive into the data. You want to find out where the injuries are occurring, how they are occurring. There are always ways to find savings in workers’ comp.”

“Tamika is an accomplished professional who has proven she is ready to lead this charge and create a proactive, multilayered strategy that will protect the City of Chicago and its residents,” the mayor said.

Puckett has spent more than 20 years in risk management and was named a 2018 Insurance Business America Leading Risk Manager. She will start work July 29 and will also be asked to find ways to reduce the city's payouts on police misconduct lawsuits.

The Chicago City Council early this year moved control of the comp program out of the legislative branch and into the mayor's office. The city also hired claims management firm Gallagher Bassett to examine millions of dollars in open claims.