Judge: Overtime Must Count Toward Benefits for PTSD Claim
- A Connecticut Superior Court judge upheld a unanimous arbitration award requiring the city of Derby to include overtime earnings when calculating supplemental workers’ compensation payments for a police officer who developed post-traumatic stress disorder after a 2021 shooting.
- The 13-year veteran of the Derby Police Department shot and wounded a suspect three times in the leg in 2021, after witnessing him fire multiple shots at a passing vehicle.
- After a psychologist determined the officer’s PTSD stemmed directly from the shooting and advised him to stay off work, the city calculated his supplemental workers’ comp payments without factoring in his prior overtime earnings, prompting the police union to file a grievance alleging the city had improperly changed its calculation method.
- A three-member state Board of Mediation and Arbitration panel sided unanimously with the union in November, and Judge Walter M. Spader Jr. rejected the city’s challenge on Aug. 3, dismissing arguments that the award violated public policy, showed arbitrator partiality, or exceeded the panel’s authority.
Officials Flag Fraudsters Preying on Spanish-Speaking Injured Workers
- The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services is warning that a persistent scam targeting Spanish-speaking injured workers remains active in Oregon and nationwide, with scammers contacting victims by phone, email, social media apps and video calls, then pressuring them to attend fake online workers’ compensation hearings involving fake judges, attorneys, or government representatives.
- Victims are told they must pay money to receive workers’ compensation benefits or settlement funds, sometimes after receiving an official-looking fake order that appears to rule in their favor.
- DCBS emphasized that neither the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division nor the Workers’ Compensation Board will ever request payment to release benefits, charge fees for hearings or mediation, ask for payment via gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency, or communicate about hearings through social media apps.
- Residents unsure about a communication’s legitimacy are urged to contact the Ombuds Office for Oregon Workers at 800-927-1271 or questions@dcbs.oregon.gov before sending money or personal information, and to report suspected scams to local law enforcement or the Oregon Department of Justice’s fraud hotline.
Racehorse Trainers in New York Get Ninth Straight Workers’ Comp Rate Cut
- The New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board announced the loss cost for class code 8280, covering racehorse trainers, grooms, and hotwalkers, will drop from 9.969 to 7.359 — a 26.18% reduction — effective for policy renewals starting Wednesday, Oct. 1.
- This marks the ninth consecutive annual decrease in workers’ compensation costs for New York’s racing industry, amounting to a cumulative 72.8% reduction since 2017.
- Tina Marie Bond, president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, called the reduction “very welcome news,” crediting collaboration with the Jockey Injury Compensation Fund to lower costs for New York-based trainers and pledging continued advocacy to keep the state attractive for stables.
- Because the fund absorbs the greatest risk associated with exercise riders and jockeys, most New York trainers have experience modifications below 1, reductions the association attributes to trainers creating safer working conditions, particulazrly for exercise riders covered under this class code.