http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog Workers' Compensation Blog Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:37:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In the case of three workers fired from Ohio's Workers' Compensation Council, council Director Virginia McInerney has been nothing but consistent: consistently tight lipped. When last we discussed the case (third item here), McInerney had simply denied all allegations of the workers who complained of wrongful discharge, religious discrimination and harassment, ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/08/30/ohio-workers-comp-council-settles-for-70k-in-religion-in-workplace-case/ Whew--the workers comp picture in North Dakota resembles a bowl of spaghetti. The issues sort of splay all over the place, with some overlapping others, then disappearing into the pile and re-emerging on the other side. Unusual provision An Aug. 16 post at Insurance Journal says, "An unusual North Dakota workers' compensation law ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/08/27/among-several-concerns-in-review-north-dakotas-aggravated-injury-provision-draws-particular-attention/ We think it's always instructive to follow workers' comp fraud, regardless of whether it's providers, carriers or claimants trying to pull a fast one. In our first case for this edition, the person who got busted did not pull a fast one. She pulled a slow one. 79-year-old pleads guilty From a recent winner ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/08/21/workers-comp-cases-reveal-fraud-effects-of-unintended-consequences/ Anyone considering moving to Texas to find work may want to reconsider. A recent hearing conducted jointly by two committees of the Texas House raises serious questions about worker safety in the Lone Star State. Related questions may make one question the official regard of workers in general, given news about ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/07/31/hearing-audit-raise-serious-questions-about-texas-regard-for-workers/ A snarl in workers comp coverages for volunteer fire fighters in West Virginia could result not only in  loss of coverage but also in at least one court case as well as hefty raises for insurance premiums on homes that would no longer be served by volunteer departments. According to a ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/07/26/in-west-virginia-workers-comp-coverage-for-volunteer-fire-fighters-raise-questions-of-life-death-and-big-problems-for-homeowners/ Following months of wrangling, Oklahoma recently passed a workers comp reform package, which we discussed here. Now the Sooner State has a legal dust-up involving the presiding judge of the state's Workers' Compensation Court. Judge Kent Eldridge has apparently decided he'd rather be an elected Oklahoma County District judge than a ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/07/10/appointed-workers-comp-judges-bid-for-election-raises-questions/ According to a June 20 article in The New York Times, "Hundreds of workers hired by BP subcontractors to help with the cleanup of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are complaining that they traveled long distances to assist in the effort — only to be ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/06/23/local-workers-favored-in-bp-cleanup-but-advocates-say-maze-may-await-those-who-get-sick-or-injured/ Schwarzenegger furloughs headed to Supreme Court As a follow-up to our March 22 post, "California furloughs of workers comp attorneys ruled ‘illegal’, " we see a June 13 piece in the San Francisco Chronicle reporting that yet another court has found that "[a]bout 7,900 state workers' compensation employees were furloughed ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/06/17/schwarzenegger-smacked-down-again-911-workers-get-improved-settlement-oklahoma-reform-passes/ Update from preceding post: Sandra Herold died Monday night, according to the Boston Herald. Herald, 72, was the owner of the 200-pound chimp who mutilated Charla Nash. We first covered the story here because of the legal questions raised about workers' compensation versus a civil settlement. Herold's cause of death ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/05/30/states-around-the-nation-facing-workers-comp-budget-woes-texas-whistleblowers-blasted-by-chief/ We first covered the Charla Nash story back in October 2009. She's the Connecticut lady who got ripped apart by the 200-pound chimpanzee owned by Sandra Herold, who has been described as both friend and boss. While in recovery after the attack, Nash learned that she may not be able allowed ... http://www.usworkerscomp.com/workers-compensation-blog/2010/05/25/chimp-attack-victim-evaluated-for-transplants-officer-who-killed-chimp-at-center-of-animal-attack-legislation/