Tennessee Ruling Highlights Treating Physician Role

• The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Special Workers’ Compensation Panel has found two provisions of The Reform Act to be constitutional.
• The opinion highlights the important role the treating physician plays.
  
• While not the first case to challenge the law, the panel’s decision in Worrell v. Obion County School District was the most substantive appellate opinion on the subject to date, according to the Tennessee Bar Association.
• The decision detailed the specific provisions of the act that were challenged and upheld. 
• Because the full Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the panel decision is final.
  READ MORE

Flash: California Employers Owe Billions

• A new analysis of the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund program shows that California employers owe billions to injured workers who have pre-existing disabilities.
• How many billions of dollars have regulators added to California’s beleaguered employers costs?
  READ MORE

WC Exclusive Remedy Factors Into Denial of Bargeworker’s $9M Jury Award

• The owner-operator of a floating crane barge has avoided paying an $8.69 million jury award because as an employer, they are protected against lawsuits by workers compensation exclusive remedy.
• The Maryland Court of Special Appeals found that the plaintiffs award for Matthew McGeady, who suffered traumatic brain injury while working aboard a floating crane barge in December 2016, was improper.
• McGeady received benefits under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act while also suing Corman Marine for negligence. The appeals court found that McGeady failed to present evidence that his injuries were directly attributable to vessel-owner negligence.
  READ MORE

Minnesota Lawmaker Targets WC Fraud Linked to Construction Wage Theft

• Minnesota state Rep. Sandra Feist is calling for tougher penalties against construction companies engaging in wage theft “which commonly involves workers’ compensation fraud.”
• The legislator highlighted two bills she is sponsoring, after a local construction firm was charged with WC fraud after the firm claimed it had no employees for two years.
• Local authorities filed a criminal complaint stemming from a worker’s claim that he injured his eye with a nail on a jobsite but was denied workers’ compensation medical coverage.
• According to the report, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said misclassification of employees as independent contractors is “rampant” in the construction industry.
• Workers’ compensation fraud is its fourth-most prevalent form of commerce fraud, the state said.
  READ MORE