Executives indicted for fraud in New York

• The New York State Supreme Court indicted Valor Security & Investigations, including six of its executives and employees, for operating a sham safety training school.
• Luz Barbra issued safety certificates and cards to approximately 20,000 students. As alleged, the defendants issued cards for a fee certifying the required 40 hours of safety training for individuals working at construction sites without providing training.
• An additional 19 individuals, including a NYCHA foreman and two master plumbers, are charged with acting as brokers by connecting individuals seeking safety certification to Luz Barbra.
• Four individuals and Valor are charged with recklessly endangering the life of Ivan Frias, who died after falling from the 15th floor of a West End Avenue construction site in 2022, by failing to provide him with necessary training.
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Attorneys opposed the government’s assertion in a controversial case

• New Jersey-based Sanford Heisler Sharp and Maritime Legal Solutions opposed the government’s argument that the rape of a civilian mariner by the captain of a U.S. Navy ship should be addressed as workers’ comp because it falls within the performance of her job duties.
• The United States notes that “rape is a reprehensible crime, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating this serious allegation.”
• Despite this assertion, the United States attempts to limit the woman’s legal remedies to only workers’ compensation. In support of its position, the United States argues that rape by the Captain of a ship constitutes a work-related dispute, rather than one that arises out of personal motivations.
• This assertion is contrary to the allegations in the complaint. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine how a rape could ever be a work-related dispute.
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Tripping over a dog is not a workers’ comp injury

• A Florida court has ruled an employee working from home who was hurt when she tripped over her dog while reaching for a coffee cup in her kitchen was not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits because her injury did not arise out of her employment.
• Tammitha Valcourt-Williams, a workers’ compensation claims adjuster for Sedgwick CMS, was allowed to work from her home.
• Valcourt-Williams claimed that after working for three hours, she went downstairs for a cappuccino. As she reached for her cup, Valcourt-Williams said she fell over one of her two dogs and injured her knee, hip, and shoulder.
• Because she had a work-from-home arrangement and because her fall occurred during working hours, Valcourt-Williams sought workers’ comp benefits. Sedgwick denied the claim, contending her injuries did not arise out of her employment.
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Protections for ‘lone workers’

• Lone workers include people who don’t work during regular business hours, such as janitors, security guards, special production, plant maintenance or repair staff, and delivery truck drivers.
• Lone workers are typically those who work by themselves or in an environment where help is not readily available in the event of injury, illness, or an emergency.
• OSHA doesn’t have a specific standard for lone worker safety, but the agency does address hazards faced by employees working alone in shipyards.
• OSHA requires employers to ensure that lone workers are accounted for by sight or verbal communication, which can include safety check-ins or ways to connect with their manager or office.
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