Industry overcoming previous COVID challenges
- The California Division of Workers’ Compensation reported that in 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic continued to create challenges and difficulties.
- In the second year of the pandemic, the Division of Workers’ Compensation, continued to ensure access to state services and the safety of the public and its employees.
- This year, the Division of Workers’ Compensation was able to resume limited in-person hearings for trials, lien trials, expedited hearings, and special adjudication (SAU) trials.
- Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the Workers’ Compensation Ethics Advisory Committee was able to continue investigating judicial misconduct complaints against Workers’ Comp judges.
Another state moves to decrease workers’ comp
- Workers’ compensation coverage could decrease for the 17th consecutive overall decrease in loss costs, Department of Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark announced today.
- The decrease could be the result of an annual filing by insurance carriers used to develop rates for workers’ compensation and approved by the Kentucky Department of Insurance.
- An annual loss ratio trend for indemnity was -6.8%.
- For coal classes, surface mining decreased by 2.2% while underground coal mining increased by 3.5% from the 2021 loss costs.
Ford Co. sued over workers comp plan
- Ford and its affiliated United Auto Workers pension plan face a proposed class action lawsuit over workers’ injuries.
- The proposed suit alleges they’ve failed to provide future service credits pursuant to the collective bargain agreement when an employee misses work due to an occupational injury.
- A longtime Ford employee at a Kentucky truck plant missed work on approved medical leave due to two occupational injuries—for which he received workers’ compensation.
- However, he was not provided with at least 23 years of credited service of at least 40 hours per week to which he was entitled under the Ford-UAW retirement pension plan.
A restaurant worker injured and then fired
- A former dishwasher at a Los Angeles restaurant reached a tentative settlement of his lawsuit alleging he was wrongfully fired in 2019 for taking medical leave.
- After being injured and denied leave, he was told: “We do things here the Armenian way, not the American way.”
- The 60-year-old plaintiff’s lawsuit alleged that Adams Kabab House was liable for wrongful discharge, retaliation, harassment and discrimination and sought $10 million in damages.
- A “conditional” settlement was reached, but the terms were not divulged.