Schools Board Okays $1.8M Emergency Transfer to Its Workers’ Comp Fund
- The Loudoun County School Board in Virginia approved a $1.8 million transfer into the division’s workers’ compensation fund Sept. 22, after actuarial estimates fell short of actual claims, which rose 25% from the end of fiscal year 2025 to the end of FY26, leaving $8.9 million in outstanding liabilities.
- Staff attributed the rise to higher-than-expected claim costs and increased payrolls, noting open claims grew from 215 in June 2025 to 230 in June 2026, with several new claims reaching as high as $400,000.
- School regulations require the fund to maintain a two-month reserve at all times, prompting the transfer.
- Chief Financial Officer Sharon Willoughby said the increase “did take us by surprise,” citing several larger-dollar claims that have recently emerged, and said budget estimates remain the best projections available at the time they’re prepared.
- The rise mirrors trends in Loudoun County government overall, where claims grew from 466 in FY25 to 502 in FY26, with total costs rising from $4.25 million to $5.53 million, a 30% increase.
Court: Worker Can’t Reopen Closed Claim Without Prior Compensability Finding
- The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 17 in Murillo v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office that a worker whose compensation claim was closed for failure to prosecute cannot reopen it based on a worsening condition unless the injury had already been accepted or determined compensable before the claim closed.
- Lusia Murillo, a housekeeper at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch, alleged a lower back injury, but the hotel and its insurer, AIU Insurance, denied liability. After six months of inactivity on her part, the claim closed automatically when she failed to respond to a state order requiring her to explain why it should remain open.
- Murillo later petitioned to reopen the claim citing worsening back pain, and an administrative law judge initially reopened it and awarded medical benefits including physical therapy, X-rays and an MRI, but the Industrial Claim Appeals Office later set aside both rulings.
- The appeals court found that because liability was never established before closure, Murillo couldn’t use a change in condition to reopen and litigate compensability for the first time.
Court Denies Summary Judgment After Worker Uncovers Hole, Falls In
- New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment to a worker who fell into an approximately 10-foot hole while cleaning a parking area at a construction site owned by South Conduit Property Owner, LLC and managed by March Construction/Consulting, after she picked up a piece of wood she believed was debris and unknowingly uncovered the hole.
- Although Jacobs established a prima facie violation of Labor Law § 240(1), the court found the defendants raised a triable issue of fact by presenting evidence the hole had been covered with a 50-pound timber cover marked “HOLE” in orange paint and secured with braces, and that Jacobs had been instructed only to clean loose garbage, not touch construction materials — evidence sufficient to question whether her own conduct was the sole proximate cause of her injuries.
- Citing New York labor law, which requires hazardous openings to be guarded by a substantial fastened cover or safety railing, the court found Jacobs had established her prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, but the defendants again raised a triable issue of fact in opposition.
- Because triable issues remained on both claims, the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s denial of summary judgment on liability, leaving the case to proceed to further litigation.