Retired firefight can't see later workers' comp

Maryland retired firefighter loses workers comp case

A Maryland firefighter who retired with total disability retirement benefits for a back injury cannot seek workers’ compensation for later ailments, Maryland’s top court ruled.
The state’s Court of Appeals ruled that permitting retirees to also receive workers’ compensation for later disabilities would result in a “financial windfall” that Maryland law is designed to prevent.
A total disability benefit offsets a later claim for workers’ compensation, the court added.
The retired firefighter is receiving $1,859.07 per week in service-connected total disability payments.

Woman reaches multimillion dollar COVID settlement

A Tennessee woman who was incapacitated because of COVID settled a worker’s compensation case against her former employer.
Keniethea Tadlock, who claimed she came down with the virus at work, had to deal with the effects of the virus for 20 months.
Once she survived the virus, she was in bed for months, and with her insurance benefits maxed out, Tadlock’s medical bills mounted to over half a million dollars.
She later was able to reach a settlement with the company.

Employees for Carlos Arturo Guerrero LLC — operating as CAG Professional Services — were working on a jack-up drilling platform in Texas.
Other employees of PH Steel Inc were also working at the site in Texas when a fire broke out and caused damage to the platform’s generator wires.
Nine workers were trapped 280 feet high because there was no fire safety plan and were rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.
OSHA proposed penalties of $140,055 for CAG Professional Services and $72,511 for PH Steel.

Florida could reduce workers’ comp rates

The National Council on Compensation Insurance submitted a filing to the Florida state insurance department that recommends an 8.4% reduction on new and renewed policies.
The new plan would take effect effective Jan. 1, 2023.
“Favorable experience has been observed in each of these time periods,” Jeff Eddinger, Senior Division Executive of NCCI, said.
The filing did not take COVID‐19‐related claims into consideration when recommending the workers’ compensation rates.

Retired firefight can’t see later workers’ comp