Weee! Settles for $95K Over Driver Misclassification, Denied Comp Coverage
- C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced a $95,000 settlement with online grocery company Weee! after alleging the company had misclassified at least 95 delivery drivers as independent contractors since 2022, despite exercising enough control over their work for them to qualify as employees under D.C. law.
- The misclassification allegedly denied drivers benefits and protections including overtime eligibility, workers’ compensation coverage, paid sick leave and split-shift pay.
- Under the settlement, Weee! will pay $47,500 in restitution to eligible current and former drivers and another $47,500 in penalties to the District.
- Schwalb said the District “won’t allow businesses … to cheat workers or gain an unfair advantage over their competitors by engaging in illegal misclassification,” and eligible drivers will be contacted by a claims administrator within the next 90 days.
Court Upholds Denial of Claim Over Stroke Tied to Evaluation
- The Delaware Superior Court affirmed the Industrial Accident Board’s denial of workers’ compensation benefits to a third-grade teacher who suffered a spinal stroke on in January 2022 while preparing for a routine scheduled performance evaluation.
- The court held that the teacher’s scheduled annual evaluation was a routine employment activity rather than an identifiable industrial accident or unexpected physical event.
- The teacher had a decade-long documented history of poorly controlled hypertension and diabetes, including blood pressure readings as high as 187/95, and had been non-compliant with her blood pressure medication in the three weeks before her stroke, despite never receiving a negative performance rating or being placed on a performance improvement plan.
- The court found substantial evidence supported the Board’s decision to credit the employer’s medical expert over the teacher’s expert, since the former reviewed the teacher’s full medical history back to 2013 and relied on literature specific to spinal strokes.
Scammers Demanding Upfront Fees to Release Fake Workers’ Comp Awards
- Iowa’s Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing is warning the public about scammers impersonating state authorities to trick injured workers into paying fictitious upfront fees for workers’ compensation benefits.
- In one recent case, a worker was contacted via a fraudulent letter mimicking DIAL’s letterhead, participated in a fake hearing, and was then told he had won more than $180,000 in benefits, but would need to pay $6,000 in upfront fees to receive the funds.
- Key warning signs include demands for upfront payment, pressure tactics creating a false sense of urgency and forged letterhead on letters or emails.
- DIAL advises never sending money for a benefits award and recommends contacting DIAL directly and reporting incidents to the Iowa Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.