Ruling on work-related injuries
- The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board of California ruled an employee has one year to file a claim alleging an injury was work-related.
- The ruling stemmed from a case called Simmons vs. Bimbo Bakeries Inc., Ace American Insurance. ;
- A workers’ compensation administrative law judge, in that case, found the employee sustained injuries to his lumbar spine, thoracic spine, and right hip in the course of employment.
- The injuries caused 19% of permanent disabilities.
Taking the secrecy out of workers’ comp
- A man whose wife was injured when she was struck by a chair at a schooler where she was teaching has made strides in making South Dakota’s workers’ comp system more transparent.
- The man, Jason Pieper, wants employees to be included in all written and oral communications between a medical services provider and any medical provider for more transparency about the process.
- He has gained support from state Representative Sue Peterson, a Sioux Falls Republican.
- Representative Mike Stevens, a Yankton Republican, and Representative Hugh Bartels, a Watertown Republican also sent a letter expressing support.
Asbestos is still a challenge for workers
- The U.S. allows hundreds of tons of asbestos each year from Brazil, primarily for two major chemical companies — OxyChem and Olin Corp, according to a report by NPR.
- The companies say asbestos is integral to chlorine production at several aging plants and have argued to keep the mineral legal.
- Their current protocols for handling asbestos are so stringent that workers face little threat of exposure, the companies claim.
- However, workers at a plant in New York claim asbestos is still causing health problems.
State boost pay for workers’ comp leaders
- Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance has raised the salary of its president by 50 percent over the past two years, according to a report by the Lexington Herald Leader.
- The information was gathered following a 2019 state audit that criticized the agency for spending excessively for insiders’ personal benefit.
- KEMI president Jon Stewart’s salary went from $362,000 to $428,065.
- The agency removed Stewart and its other executives from the state government’s public salary database in 2020.