TX - Judge Errs in Consolidating Worker's Civil Suit With Putative Employer's Appeal
04/30/2024 | 0
A Texas appellate court ruled that a trial judge erred in consolidating a worker’s civil suit with his putative employer’s challenge to an administrative finding that the worker was not its employee.
In September 2021, Romny Sanchez joined his uncle Leonel Yanez on a job providing remediation services to victims of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana. Yanez worked for All Repair and Restoration LLC.
Joe Saavedra, another All Repair employee, also came to work on the job.
Sanchez and Yanez suffered injuries in a vehicle accident on the job while Saavedra was driving.
Sanchez an...
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The Montana Workers’ Compensation Court issued an order compelling an injured worker to travel 150 miles from home to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Case: Neisinger v. New Hampshire Insurance Co., No. 2024-00340, 04/25/2024, published.
Facts: Michael Neisinger lives in Cascade, Montana. He sustained injuries in May 2015 when a high-pressure water jet stream tore into his left leg, spun him around and knocked him off a platform.
Neisinger’s employer had workers’ compensation coverage with New Hampshire Insurance Co., which accepted liability for the injuries.
...
A New York appellate court upheld the denial of a worker’s claim for benefits for alleged repetitive trauma injuries as supported by insufficient evidence.
Case: Matter of Morgan v. Kinray Inc., No. CV-23-0563, 04/25/2024, published.
Facts: Dexter Morgan worked for Kinray Inc. as a warehouse associate. He filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, alleging he suffered injuries from the repetitive motions and use of his arms, hands, legs, neck and back while engaged in heavy lifting, reaching and squatting.
Morgan alleged that the onset of his injuries was on Jan...
A New York appellate court upheld an award of benefits to a home health care worker for her injuries from a fall from an unknown cause.
Case: Matter of Bosque v. Prime Support Inc., No. CV-23-0221, 04/25/2024, published.
Facts: Annette Bosque worked for Prime Support Inc. as a home health care aide. She fell in a hallway after cleaning her patient's bedroom. The patient’s mother later found her face down on the floor, unconscious.
Bosque was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, central cord syndrome and mild traumatic brain injury.
Procedural h...
Gig workers delivering food in New York City report high rates of injury and assaults, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Urban Health.
The City University of New York surveyed more than 1,600 gig workers and found that 22% reported being injured while working and another 21% reported being assaulted on the job.
According to the university, survey respondents who said they used electric bikes or mopeds to deliver food were more than twice as likely to be injured or assaulted.
The survey also reportedly found that despite being characterized as a part-time job for those ...
OccMD announced a partnership with private equity firm Council Capital.
Dallas-based OccMD provides medical management services for companies whose workers have complex work-related injuries or illnesses.
The company said it will use Council Capital’s investment to expand its services and grow into more states and lines of business.
The transaction closed March 20. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Council Capital is a health care-focused private equity firm based in Nashville, Tennessee.
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CLARA Analytics and Origami Risk announced a partnership to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence in the insurance industry.
The partnership will give risk managers access to secure technology that’s compliant with cybersecurity standards for certified public accountants as well as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.
“Self-insured organizations, insurers, risk pools, MGAs and others already using Origami can gain new AI-driven insights to help them identify high-risk claims, improve collaboration with third-party administrators, optimiz...
An Ohio appellate court ruled that an award for a worker’s loss of use of his limbs may be available when medical evidence shows that loss is the result of brain injury, not direct trauma to the extremities.
Bohdanus Byk was a laborer for Republic Steel. He slipped and fell from a platform in August 2012, suffering severe head injuries, which caused trauma to his brain.
Byk underwent a right frontal decompressive craniectomy, but he remained in a persistent vegetative state for almost three years until he died.
Before Byk’s death, an application was filed with the Industria...
A Florida appellate court ruled that an employer was barred from raising a workers’ compensation exclusivity defense to a worker’s civil suit over his shooting by a colleague.
Case: Bottling Group LLC v. Bastien, No. 3D23-1298, 04/24/2024, published.
Facts: Giovanni E. Bastien worked for Bottling Group LLC at a Pepsi packaging and distribution facility in Medley. In November 2020, he was shot by a colleague.
According to local media reports, Bastien had gotten into an argument with Jimmy Lee Franklin, 29, over union issues. The men agreed to fight, then clocked out of work and d...
The Delaware Superior Court upheld a determination that an injured worker’s treatments were reasonable and necessary even though they allegedly fell outside the parameters of the state’s administrative health care practice guidelines.
Case: Amazon.com SVCS LLC v. Rook, No. N23A-04-003 KMM, 04/25/2024, published.
Facts: Hector Rook worked for Amazon.com SVCS LLC in the packaging department. On May 24, 2022, Rook allegedly suffered a back injury at work.
Rook went to the Amazon in-house medical unit on May 25, where he was diagnosed with sciatica and a lumbar strain. Rook was...
A New York appellate court overturned a grant of summary judgment for a worker on his Labor Law claim for an alleged eye injury.
Case: Chuqui v. Cong. Ahavas Tzookah V'Chesed Inc., No. 2021-03104, 04/24/2024, published.
Facts: Jose D. Chuqui allegedly suffered injuries while working as a carpenter on a remodeling project at premises owned by Cong. Ahavas Tzookah V'Chesed Inc. According to Chuqui, he was operating a nail gun to attach wood plates to a roof when debris from a metal wire flew off the nails and hit his right eye.
Procedural history: Chuqui filed suit against Cong. ...
CA - Building Maintenance Owner Ordered to Pay $687,560 for Comp Fraud
The owner of a building maintenance company in Northern California was ordered to pay $687,560 in restitution after being convicted of workers’ compensation fraud for underreporting payroll.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced that Jorge Maldonado was convicted of felony work comp fraud charges in April. He was ordered to pay restitution to Employers Preferred Insurance Co., Markel Corp. and Atlas General Insurance Services after a hearing on Thursday.
Maldonado owns Pro-Care Building Maintenance.
He was accused of underreporting the number of his employee...
Dave North will retire from his role as executive chairman of Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. on June 30 but will remain on the board of directors, the company announced Thursday.
North has spent 29 years with Memphis, Tennessee-based Sedgwick, where he served as the third-party administrator’s president and chief executive officer from 1995 to 2020.
North began his insurance industry career in 1978 as a fire protection engineer at Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co.
During his time at Sedgwick, where he led numerous acquisitions, the company grew from the eighth-largest third-...
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed bills revising the criteria for measuring work-related hearing loss.
The governor on Thursday signed HB 669/SB 843, which increase the number of frequencies that must be included in hearing tests and alter how age is factored into the calculation.
Current law tests hearing loss across four frequency bands ranging from 500 hertz to 3,000 hertz. The process also includes an offset that accounts for nonindustrial hearing loss that generally occurs with age.
The bills Moore signed require testing up to 4,000 hertz. They also require the nonoccupatio...
The California Assembly unanimously approved a bill that would require employers to notify workers that they have a right to consult an attorney to discuss workplace injuries.
The Assembly on Thursday voted 75-0 to pass AB 1870, by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-San Leandro, which would modify the requirements for posters employers are required to display in the workplace.
The bill would require the posters to mention that an injured worker has a right to consult an attorney and that in most cases, attorney fees will be paid from the injured worker’s recovery.
Posters are already requir...