CA - High Court: Prop. 22 Doesn't Infringe on Lawmakers' Authority to Create Comp System
07/26/2024 | 0
The California Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that voters did not infringe on the unlimited authority of state lawmakers to create a workers’ compensation system when they approved a ballot initiative that classified drivers for companies such as Uber and Lyft as contractors who are generally not covered by the grand bargain.
Though the California Constitution vests the Legislature with unlimited power to create a work comp system, it “does not preclude the electorate from exercising its initiative power to legislate on matters affecting workers’ compensation,” t...
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The Kansas Court of Appeals rejected a widower’s constitutional challenges to the lack of a jury trial in workers’ compensation matters and the statutory cap on the benefits payable for the death of his wife.
Case: Higginbotham v. State, No. 126,764, 07/19/2024, unpublished.
Facts: Melissa Higginbotham worked for the State of Kansas at Larned State Hospital. In September 2021, Higginbotham was traveling for work when an oncoming vehicle crossed the centerline and struck her vehicle. Higginbotham suffered fatal injuries.
Procedural history: Higginbotham’s widower filed a cl...
An Ohio appellate court issued a limited writ of mandamus directing the Industrial Commission to determine a worker’s entitlement to temporary total disability benefits for a period of unemployment.
Case: State ex rel. David v. Industrial Commission, No. 22AP-380, 07/23/2024, published.
Facts and procedural history: Stanley David worked for Zenith Systems LLC. He suffered injuries in November 2010 when he fell from a truck.
The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation allowed David’s claim for fractures of his pelvis and femur, as well as an aggravation of preexisting depression.
...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld an award of benefits to the widow of a paramedic who died of a heart attack.
Case: Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. v. Reeder (WCAB), No. 815 C.D. 2023, 07/19/2024, unpublished.
Facts: Robert Reeder worked for Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. He suffered a fatal heart attack while at work in October 2018.
On that day, Reeder had been a field paramedic for a stair-walking fundraiser event at a sports stadium. Reeder typically worked only one field day per week, but he was on his sixth consecutive field day when he died.
Lawrence Worrilow worked with...
California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation is proposing major changes to the forms providers use for injured workers’ progress reports, the doctors’ first report of occupational injury, permanent and stationary reports, and requests for authorization.
If enacted, these changes will impose significant new administrative burdens and costs on providers who treat injured workers while (as usual) leaving claims administrators free to do as they please.
As the DWC openly acknowledges, the costs of implementing the new forms and overhauling current pro...
The Delaware Superior Court upheld the denial of coverage for an Amazon employee’s back surgery, finding that his workplace injury did not necessitate the operation.
Case: Hoskins v. Amazon.com, No. N23A-06-004 CEB, 07/23/2024, published.
Facts and procedural history: Matthew Hoskins worked for Amazon.com as an order picker. He suffered injuries at work in August 2021 when boxes fell on his back while he was bending over a bin.
Hoskins reported the injury but continued to work for another five months before quitting. He began receiving full disability benefits once he quit.
Meanwhile...
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health announced that new indoor heat safety standards took effect immediately after being approved by the Office of Administrative Law.
Cal/OSHA’s "Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment" rule requires most employers to take steps to protect workers from heat illness in indoor workplaces where the temperature reaches 82 degrees. Employers have to provide water, rest, cool-down areas and training.
When indoor temperatures reach 87 degrees, employers must, when feasible, cool down the work area, implement work-...
The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board said it has significantly reduced turnaround times in resolving billing disputes between health care providers and payers.
The board said it has reduced the number of outstanding requests for administrative resolution of disputes by more than 88% and cut the turnaround time from nearly two years to two months. The backlog of requests to resolve disputes through arbitration is down more than 80%.
Two years ago, the Medical Director’s Office overhauled the billing dispute resolution process to convert to a paperless system.
The WCB re...
A California appellate court revived an injured worker’s disability discrimination claim against his employer, finding that the terms of his workers’ compensation settlement did not release his claim.
Omar Dominguez worked for Dish Network LLC as a technician. In June 2016, he injured his back while lifting a ladder outside a customer’s home. He was unable to work and was placed on a workers’ compensation leave of absence.
In September 2016, Dominguez filed a workers’ compensation claim. He named the Dish Network Corp. as his employer.
In April 2017, ...
SACRAMENTO, CA - The Coalition of Professional Photocopiers (CPP) has released the Board's election results for this term's President, Vice President and Secretary positions.
At its July meeting, the Board elected Mike Callan, President of Republic Document Management as President of the Coalition. Callan brings 29 years of experience working in the industry. Under his leadership, Republic has spec...
The Washington Court of Appeals upheld the suspension of an injured nurse’s benefits because she refused to participate in a telehealth evaluation requested by her employer.
Case: Novalic v. PeaceHealth, No. 58451-4-II, 07/16/2024, unpublished.
Facts: Eldina Novalic worked as a nurse for PeaceHealth Southwest Washington Medical Center. She injured her back at work in 2019.
The Department of Labor and Industries accepted the injury as compensable.
Later, one of Novalic’s evaluating doctors suggested that she was suffering from anxiety as a result of her injur...
A federal appellate court upheld a defendant’s conviction for a long-running and lucrative kickback scheme but overturned the restitution order that had been imposed.
Case: U.S. v. Young, Nos. 20-13091 and 20-14377, 07/22/2024, published.
Facts: Elizabeth Peters Young was the proprietor of Young Surgical LLC. She marketed over-the-counter pain-relieving patches and creams to doctors who treated workers’ compensation patients.
The patches went by the brand name Terocin, and the creams went by the brand name LidoPro. Both products were very expensive, but the Department of Labor&r...
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an employer should have been allowed to set aside its stipulation of facts agreeing to the enlargement of an employee’s claim.
Case: VNA of St. Luke’s Home Health/Hospice Inc. v. Ortiz (WCAB), No. 1312 C.D. 2022, 07/23/2024, published.
Facts and procedural history: Elizabeth Ortiz worked as an administrative assistant for VNA of St. Luke’s Home Health/Hospice Inc. She suffered injuries to her left shoulder in November 2017 when she fell while attempting to sit down.
VNA issued a notice of temporary compensation payable...
The New York Daily News reports that union officials are claiming that 9/11 first responders have not received workers’ compensation benefits since the CrowdStrike outage last week.
Direct deposit payments ranging from $700 to $900 have not gone through, according to Gary Smiley, a liaison for EMS Union Local 2507.
“A lot of these people live paycheck to paycheck,” Smiley said. “They can’t work because they’re not allowed to work. This is their money. What are you supposed to tell these people?”
The city reportedly told Smiley that payments would be...
California workers’ compensation carrier Preferred Employers Insurance announced the promotion of Stephanie Graham to vice president of claims.
Graham joined Preferred in 2011 as assistant vice president of medical services, where she developed the carrier’s medical provider network.
Preferred said Graham also played a key role in leading customer service operations and was a major contributor to the company’s success over the past 13 years.
Before joining Preferred, she held positions in product and network management with group health providers, claims administrators...
An advisory committee to California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau will discuss adding another significant digit to expected loss rates and pure premium rates during an Aug. 6 meeting.
The Classification and Rating Committee will discuss moving from two decimal places to three to make the loss rates and pure premium rates more precise.
The meeting agenda says some low-hazard classifications have pure premium rates lower than 5 cents per $100 of payroll. The WCIRB said that with only two significant digits, the rates can be constrained by the application of swing ...
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation announced that a handful of rules are up for review.
The BWC said its claims procedure rules in Chamber 4123-3, as well as the miscellaneous provisions in Chapter 4123-5, are up for a five-year review.
The bureau said it is proposing to retain six rules in Chapter 4123-3 without change and to amend another 21 rules in the chapter. The BWC recommends retaining one rule without change from Chapter 4123-5 and to amend five others in that chapter.
At the same time, the BWC announced that rules establishing specific safety requirements for elev...
