Worker sues candy maker
- A former employee at a candy-manufacturing plant in Waco, Texas, who was hurt on the job two years ago is suing the company for discrimination and retaliation after he was fired while undergoing treatment for his injury.
- Brian Roberts, 60, is seeking unspecified damages in his lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Waco’s 170th State District Court against Mars Wrigley Confectionery.
- Roberts filed a claim for health care services through Mars’ workers’ compensation insurance carrier, Liberty Health Care Network.
- Roberts received continuous treatment on his hand from Oct. 12, 2021, to Oct. 25, 2021, the suit states. On Oct. 25, 2021, Roberts was “abruptly terminated from his employment at Mars.
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Firefighter with cancer fighting for workers’ comp
- Ron Cato, a former firefighter in Washington State was diagnosed with stage four Glioblastoma.
- Because Cato only served for one full year as a paid firefighter, he doesn’t qualify for workers’ comp.
- Cato has had 80% of the tumor removed but still has to go through chemotherapy and radiation.
- Washington State Department of Labor and Industries acknowledges these risks and that’s why the state has a law that makes it easier for firefighters to receive worker’s compensation.
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Louisiana court overturns decision
- A woman diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma has successfully reversed a court decision regarding her claim against her former employer.
- Though a court had granted the company’s request to dismiss her claim, she was able to prove that there were significant questions of fact to be determined, as well as to raise the question of whether the company should face sanctions for committing fraud on the court.
- She filed a worker’s compensation claim against the company’s successor, Athene, in addition to a civil mesothelioma lawsuit.
- The company filed a motion to have the civil claim dismissed, claiming to a Missouri law that established that companies that carried workers’ compensation insurance with enhanced mesothelioma benefits in effect could not be held liable for civil charges.
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Construction worker rescued from trench
- A worker was rescued from a trench outside Chicago after a piece of construction equipment fell on him while he was helping build a basement.
- The Lake Forest firefighters responded to a construction site on the 300 block of North Green Bay Road, where a concrete form used to mold concrete slabs had fallen from a scaffolding, hitting a construction worker in a 16-foot-deep trench.
- Lake Forest Fire Department Deputy Chief Andy Rick said the worker was awake and alert, but had suffered a back injury.
- After stabilizing the worker on a backboard, firefighters used a ladder truck to lift the worker out of the trench within 20 to 25 minutes of arriving on the scene.
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