Workers sue, try to recover workers’ comp

• A worker who was severely burned in a December 2022 explosion inside C6-Zero’s roofing shingle recycling factory in Marengo, Iowa, has filed a lawsuit, accusing the company and its owners of operating an unsafe workplace
• The suit also alleges numerous other failures by the defendants, including failing to have an operational automatic sprinkler system for fires and violating industry, local, state, or national safety standards.
• Another injured worker filed a similar lawsuit against the company.
• Deep Lake Outsourcing and its workers’ comp insurance carrier, Technology Insurance Company, Inc. have filed liens against any future “satisfaction, judgment, compromise, settlement or other resolution” to recover workers’ compensation claims they say have already been paid out.
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New Mexico ranchers struggling with workers’ comp rights

• New Mexico ranchers have lost their exemption from the workers’ compensation coverage requirement, through the courts rather than by legislation.
• When New Mexico ranchers were arguing against mandatory workers’ compensation coverage, they said that’s what their lives are like.
• The workers’ comp system, they said, is not a good fit with a system where employees are compensated partly with intangibles rather than money.
• The defeated Paid Family and Medical Leave Act contains no exemptions for specific industries.
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Workers’ comp workshop planned for Oklahoma

• The NCCI has opened registration for a free Agent Education Workshop in Tulsa or Oklahoma City where producers licensed in Oklahoma will earn three continuing education credits on April 9.
• Attendees how to submit a residual market application, classify the business and use NCCI’s resources, expand their knowledge of the experience rating process, and get an overview of Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system.
• There will be an overview of the Oklahoma Workers Compensation System, the economic outlook, and legislative trends and monitoring overview.
• Attendees can also find out how to apply for residual market coverage, learn about application eligibility rules, and review, and analyze, the responsibilities of Plan Administration.
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NAIC releases 2024 strategic plan

• The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) announced its 2024 strategic priorities. NAIC Members annually finalize the priorities and discuss potential work plans after assigning committee responsibilities.
• One priority will be the mitigation, consumer education, and closely working together remain central to tackling the threat posed by increased climate risks.
• Aiming to enhance oversight and adapt to evolving investment strategies, the NAIC’s “Framework for Insurer Investment Regulation” will reduce blind reliance on credit rating providers and modernize the role of the NAIC’s Securities Valuation Office.
• State insurance regulators will once again take a multipronged approach to protecting consumers from deceptive and misleading insurance marketing.
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