Roadie Death Suit Okay Despite WC Settlement

A previous workers’ compensation settlement in the October 2021 death of Kiss guitar tech Fran Stueber doesn’t prevent his family from pursuing a wrongful death claim, a Los Angeles judge ruled on June 21.
Stueber died after contracting Covid during the glam band’s End of the Road World Tour.
His wife and several family members filed the lawsuit against guitarist Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and the band’s manager in October 2023, alleging negligence and wrongful death. Tour promoter Live Nation and hotel chain Marriott were also named as defendants.
The family in 2023 accepted a $250,000 workers’ compensation settlement.
A Rolling Stone investigation detailed claims from several Kiss roadies who alleged that minimal Covid protocols contributed to Stueber’s death.
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The National Council on Compensation Insurance is out with its annual Injured Worker Wage Distribution report.
NCCI said the wages paid to injured workers have cost implications for the workers’ compensation system because benefits are often directly tied to pre-injury wages.
The data provides a comparison, by state, of the three-year pre-injury average weekly wage for injured workers to the three-year average wage of workers in the private industry.
It includes lost-time claim experience from voluntary and assigned risk markets, including large deductible policies. Self-insured data is generally not included, NCCI said.
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