Hotel worker didn’t suffer work injuries after assault
- An employee attacked at work for “personal reasons” is not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled.
- The court decided that even though the assailant was mentally ill, the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals correctly decided that Deangelo Profit was ineligible for benefits.
- Profit was employed by DoubleTree Suites and was cleaning a hotel room the day that he was attacked. His attacker, identified by the surname Richards, was an acquaintance.
- Later, Profit filed a claim petition for workers’ compensation benefits. However, the compensation judge denied the claim, finding that Richards was attacked solely for personal reasons.
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Massachusettes gets $130M rate rollback with workers’ comp
- Under a settlement the Massachusetts Attorney General reached with the Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau and the State Rating Bureau, businesses will be saving approximately $130 million on workers’ compensation insurance starting July 1.
- The settlement, which resolves an administrative rate trial at the Division of Insurance, will result in an average rollback of approximately 10.2 percent on workers’ compensation insurance rates.
- Workers’ compensation insurance rates are set at least every two years in administrative rate trials before the Commissioner of Insurance with the Division of Insurance.
- The Attorney General’s Office litigates these cases to obtain fair rates for policyholders.
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Firefighters rally for workers’ comp
Firefighters around the country are rallying behind a Goodyear Arizona, firefighter with cancer who has repeatedly been denied workers’ compensation payments.
Gilbert Aguirre was first diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in May 2015.
CopperPoint Insurance Companies, the workers’ compensation carrier for the city of Goodyear, has denied his claims that the cancer is work-related.
The case has moved over time from the insurer to the Industrial Commission of Arizona to the court system.
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Results of workplace stress
- ODG by MCG published a new white paper, Mental Health in the Workplace: Stress and Resiliency, finding that employee mental health can interface with the workplace in a variety of ways.
- Stable employment is typically a positive factor in a person’s mental health, while lack of employment is often considered a psychosocial stressor that can negatively impact mental health.
- An employee may have a behavioral health condition that negatively impacts their work. Conversely, working a meaningful and supportive job can be a necessary part of a person’s mental health recovery.
- The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way many people work, moving from shared workspaces to remote work from home.
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