Note: Workers’ Comp Advisor will take its annual summer break starting Monday, July 1, and resume daily publication on Monday, July 15. Happy Fourth of July to all of our valued subscribers!
Mobsters Using NY Scaffold Law in Worker Injury Scams
- Russian mobsters and MS-13 members operating in New York are using the state’s Scaffold Law to run scams, an investigation published by The New York Post revealed.
- The Scaffold Law says builders are considered fully at fault for any accident involving a fallen worker.
- In one incident, an MS-13 informant at a construction company disclosed plans for a worker to fall off a ladder.
- Tradesman Program Managers, a Poughkeepsie carrier covering contractors and construction companies, was reported to have paid more than $142 million in 2022, three times the $36 million it paid out in 2018. The firm told the Post that it has faced 650 allegedly fraudulent suits over the last four years.
- New York has the second-highest workers compensation costs in the country, according to the report.
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Oregon Appeals Court Overturns $10 Million Asbestos Award
- A jury verdict that awarded $10 million to a worker’s widow for his asbestos exposure was overturned by the Oregon Court of Appeals last week in a ruling that the case lacked proof regarding the company’s workers compensation insurance coverage.
- Reberiano Gonzalez Ibarra fell ill due to asbestos exposure on the job more than 40 years ago. He sued his former employer, C.H. Murphy/Clark-Ullman Inc. but died while the case was pending.
- His widow claimed that the employer failed to secure coverage because it had not complied with certain statutory requirements for self-insurance and was awarded damages.
- The Court of Appeal reversed and remanded the case, ruling that the widow had the burden of establishing that the exclusive remedy rule did not apply.
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Pennsylvania Township Volunteer Firefighters Get WC Coverage
- Pennsylvania’s Martindale Fire Company’s 30 volunteer firefighters, along with 50-60 other volunteers who help with non-firefighting activities, will now get workers’ compensation coverage under the Earl Township.
- The township’s board of supervisors authorized protection for the volunteers who engage in certain operational support activities as designated in the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act.
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Hearing Aid Insurer ESCO Debuts Workers’ Compensation Cover
- Hearing aid retailers are now being offered a business owners policy that includes workers’ compensation coverage.
- It is being offered by ESCO, whose hearing aid insurance for user devices is sold to the retailers’ customers.
- The new business owners policy is through AmTrust. The workers’ compensation insurance covers medical costs, disability benefits, and legal fees related to work injuries.
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