Michigan Chamber Opposes WC Changes

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce said that legislation moving through the state senate “threatens to destroy fundamental principles” of the state’s workers’ compensation law.
The group said if passed, S.B. 1079 would make Michigan “a less competitive and desirable state in which to create or grow a business.”
As reported here earlier this week, S.B. 1079, introduced by Sen. John Cherry, would add language that states “if an employee, after being employed… for less than 100 weeks, loses the employee’s job, the employee’s personal injury is conclusively presumed to result in disability connected to wage loss, unless the employee’s employer establishes that the employee’s willful and serious misconduct resulted in the termination of the employee’s employment.”
The Chamber said the bill wholly redefines the cornerstone definition of disability, erases the all-important distinctions between degrees of disability, and guts work search obligations and wage earning capacity.
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Sedgwick said it closed a minority investment led by Altas Partners, a North American private equity firm.
While the size of the investment was not disclosed, the Memphis, Tennessee provider of claims management, loss adjusting and technology-enabled business services said its total enterprise value is now roughly $13.2 billion.
That’s up from $6.7 billion when Carlyle made its initial investment in 2018.
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Gallagher Bassett has hired Irina Simpson as Executive Vice President, Workers’ Compensation.
The 17-year industry veteran, Simpson was previously SVP and chief claims officer with PMA Companies, and held similar roles with Sedgwick, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Ajay Sinha, who was previously in the role, has been appointed as Managing Director, Captive practice.
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