NY Business Owner Cheats at Insurance

• A Garden-City business owner is being charged with insurance fraud after under-reporting payroll.
• Vassilios a.k.a William a.k.a Bill Handakas allegedly stated in his workers’ comp contract that his company had only two employees when it actually employed 13.
• Handakas ended up under-reporting thousands of dollars in payroll, according the district attorney’s office.
• Not content to stop there, he tried the same thing with another insurance provider.
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WA Injury Rates May Not be Driving All Costs

• Washington state’s unique workers compensation system might be making injuries more expensive.
• The percentage of work injuries is one of the highest in the nation averaging 3.9 injuries per 100 workers, according the Bureau Labor Statistics. But factors, besides injuries, might be contributing to higher workers’ comp costs.
• Washington is one of only four states where employers purchase insurance from the state. It’s the only state where employees contribute to their own workers compensation.
• These two wrinkles, and other factors, create fewer disincentives for employers to report injuries, legal experts say.
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Court Says: Yes, She Was at Work

• The Virginia Court of Appeals rules that an injured worker can collect benefits for injuries suffered in a parking garage.
• Molly Sullivan, a customer service agent with United Airlines, slipped while on a walkway in a parking garage suffering injuries to her ankle, knee, and arm.
• United challenged her workers comp claim saying it did not arise in the course of employment because it did not control the garage.
• The court disagreed, stating the garage was covered under the “extended premises” doctrine. United invited its employees to use that garage and walkway, making them extensions of United’s property. Sullivan was injured at work.
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Texas Updating Rules

• The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation is tweaking some of its rules regarding workers’ comp procedure for employers. The proposed changes in their entirety will be posted today.
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• In addition, The Texas DWC is still accepting on comments on a proposed rule that will prevent health care providers from misusing the dispute process.
• Finally, the DWC is accepting comments on changes to its dispute resolution process.
• These include updates to sections regarding citations and the language on penalties.
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A Proper Deduction, Court Rules

• An Illinois Appellate Court says that deduction of a percentage of a disability award was correct, in fact, mandatory.
• An injured worker suffered injuries to her hands for which she was awarded 22.5% permanent partial disability to her right hand and 20% to her left.
• The Illinois Workers Compensation Commission then applied a 17% credit from a previous award related to an injuy from 2019. That left her with a net loss in both hands.
• The court ruled that the IWCC’s application of the credit was correct. It stated that the workers’ comp statutes do not recognize the differing time periods of an injury when applying a loss deducted from a subsequent injury.
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