Blog - Lastest News from Work Comp Staffing Solutions
11.9% Loss Cost Cut Takes Effect April 1
Maine acting Superintendent of Insurance Timothy Schott announced the approval a National Council on Compensation Insurance filing that proposes an average loss cost decrease of 11.9%. The new NCCI loss costs go into…
Court Upholds Awards of SEBs, Penalties, Fees for Trio of Retired Paper Mill Workers
In a trio of decisions, a Louisiana appellate court upheld awards of benefits to paper mill workers for their occupational hearing loss, as well as awards of attorney fees and…
Privette Doctrine Shields Cheese Manufacturer From Liability for Delivery Driver’s Injuries
A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a dairy delivery driver’s tort claims against a cheese manufacturer, finding the Privette doctrine shielded the company from liability. Case: Delgadillo v. Hilmar…
Nurse Has Partial Disability, Not Causally Related Anxiety or Shoulder Injury, From Assault
A New York appellate court upheld a finding that a nurse had only a partial disability from an assault by a psychiatric patient and that she did not have a…
Bills Would Allow Workers to Choose Treating Doctor, Revise Firefighter Presumptions
Bills introduced in the Montana Legislature would give employees the ability to choose their treating physicians in workers’ compensation cases and add testicular and cervical cancer to the list of…
Worker’s Latent Illness Not Subject to Occupational Disease Act’s Exclusive Remedy Provision
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an occupational disease that manifests more than four years after an employee's last exposure to hazards causing that disease is not subject to…
General Assembly Passes Group Self-Insurance Bills
The Virginia General Assembly passed a bill that would allow group self-insurance associations to merge. Del. William C. Wampler The Senate on Feb. 16 voted 40-0 to pass HB 2418, by…
Supreme Court Won’t Allow Defendant to Challenge Widow’s Standing
The Alabama Supreme Court declined to grant mandamus relief to allow a defendant in a workers' compensation/wrongful death action to amend an answer to raise a previously omitted affirmative defense. Case:…
High Court Revives Paraplegic Taxi Driver’s Claim for Benefits
The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously overturned a denial of benefits to a taxi driver who was paralyzed from being shot by a passenger, expressly adopting the “economic realities test” for determining if…
Supreme Court Orders Judge to Relinquish Jurisdiction Over City’s Premium Dispute With BWC
The Ohio Supreme Court ordered a lower court's judge to give up jurisdiction over a city’s suit against the state Bureau of Workers' Compensation challenging its premium calculation methods. In 2013,…
Bill Would Expand PTSD Comp Presumptions
Vermont lawmakers are proposing to expand workers' compensation eligibility to additional classes of state employees diagnosed with job-related post-traumatic stress disorder. Police officers, firefighters and ambulance workers are already covered under…
Kipper Returning as Insurance Commissioner
Scott Kipper is returning to helm the Nevada Division of Insurance, effective Feb. 27, Department of Business and Industry Director Terry J. Reynolds announced Tuesday. Scott Kipper Kipper will succeed Barbara…