Court: Injured Worker Wrongly Denied

• The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division rules that the state’s workers’ comp board is wrong to deny benefits.
• Senior Court Officer, Robert Liotta, was at work in the trade center on 9/11 when the terrorist attack took place. Liotta registered as an employee, who participated in the rescue and recovery operations in the aftermath. This included providing safety equipment.
• He filed a workers’ comp claim for injuries suffered during the operations. The board denied the claim, saying that he did not have a tangible connection to the recovery efforts.
• The Supreme court disagrees, saying the legislation passed in the wake of the attack, was meant to be liberally construed to get benefits to workers quickly. Therefore, Liotta’s actions, including clearing the courthouse, so emergency personnel could enter, make his injuries compensable.
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Repercussions from Blast Still in Court

• Insurance and construction companies including the Colorado’s workers’ comp carrier, are still arguing over who bears responsibility for a blast at a home site where workers were seriously injured.
• Four workers were injured in a blast that appears to have occurred in the crawl space of a kitchen in a family home.  It appears that a combination of natural gas atmosphere and an ignition source caused the explosion.
• Numerous lawsuits are making their way to since the accident in 2022. Pinnacol Assurance, Colorado’s workers’ compensation insurer hopes to recover whatever it can from the work comp benefits paid out.
• Two of the workers who received work comp benefits suffered life altering injuries. These include injuries sustained falling off a ladder and being blown backwards by the blast.
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Great Job: Best Insurers Ranked

• Several factors, including empathy, are considered in the ranking of the Top 10 workers’ comp carriers, according to a business pub.
• The best carriers have avoided turnover, to provide the best claims quality claims adjusters, says Insurance Business. This helps maintain their client’s “good reputation.”
• Included in the list, are Pie Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual, and Applied Underwriters.
• The vice president of one of the outstanding insurance companies, says integrity and consistency, among other attributes, have contributed to its sterling performance.
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Dayton Man Accused of Fraud

• A Dayton, Ohio man allegedly stole thousands of dollars in temporary total disability benefits.
• James Fields is accused of having a secret job while collecting workers’ comp benefits. He is also accused of tampering with workers’ comp records in a case being investigated by the Ohio Department of Workers’ Compensation Insurance.
• According to the indictment, the tampering is related to forms associated with case.
• It is not known where Fields was secretly working, only that he was issued a summons.
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