Massive NY WC Racketeering Suit Adds Law Firm Defendants

• A federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit filed by Roosevelt Road Specialty and its reinsurance program for contractors and construction, Tradesman Program Managers, has added another law firm defendant in the alleged wide-ranging scheme to defraud insurers through staged construction accidents and fraudulent medical treatments.
• A complaint filed June 16 in the Eastern District of New York added personal injury law firm William Schwitzer & Associates, P.C. and its principals William Schwitzer and Giovani Merlino, to the action originally filed in March 2024 against various medical providers, medical centers and law firms in the greater New York metropolitan area.
• Dozens of local medical providers were also included among the defendants.
• The suit alleges that “persons of unknown citizenship” participated in the fraudulent scheme by recruiting construction workers into staging and perpetuating fake construction accidents at various construction sites throughout New York.
  READ MORE

Oklahoma WCC Cuts Multiple Injury Trust Assessment

• The Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission is reportedly reducing the Multiple Injury Trust Fund assessment on workers’ compensation coverage providers from 7% to 6.29%.
• The move comes after the agency determined that the current health of the fund merited the rate cut.
• State legislative reforms in 2019 reduced long-term liabilities, serving to stablize the fund.
• The fund pays for about 90% of permanent disability claims in the state, according to agency reports.
  READ MORE