Major penalties for New York workers’ comp fraud

• Juan Escobar was sentenced to six months in jail for defrauding the New York State Insurance Fund of nearly $3 million in insurance premium payments.
• Escobar, who previously pleaded guilty to Insurance Fraud in the Third Degree, will also have to pay $400,000 in restitution to New York State.
• His companies, Infinity Drywall Corp. Infinity Quality Services, JMC Drywall and JJM Builders, previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree and were sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge.
• Escobar defrauded NYSIF, which provides workers’ compensation and disability benefits for employers in New York State, by significantly underreporting his payroll during annual insurance premium audits.
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Ohio passes workers’ comp bill

• The Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 106 to close a loophole in workers’ compensation coverage for nurses and physicians exposed to bodily fluids on air ambulance flights.
• Under current workers’ compensation law, their pathogen testing expenses are not covered should they need testing for bloodborne pathogens.
• Senate Bill 106 expands the category of those eligible for workers’ compensation coverage for testing for bloodborne pathogens after exposure to include nurses and physicians.
• Paramedics, EMTs, and other first responders are already eligible to receive workers’ compensation for bloodborne pathogen testing, but not physicians and nurses, who are required to be present on a rotorcraft or fixed-wing air ambulance.
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The battle continues over heat and workers’ comp

• There are no federal standards to protect workers like the Garcias when days become excessively hot.
• Without bipartisan support from Congress, even with urgent attention from the Biden administration, relief may not come for years.
• Lawmakers could look to California, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, the only states with rules mandating that all outdoor workers have access to water, rest, and shade.
• After California instituted its standard in 2005, fewer injuries were reported in workers’ compensation claims when temperatures exceeded 85 degrees.
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Railroad worker killed

• A railroad worker in Ohio is dead after he was pinned between two railcars, according to a spokesperson with the National Transportation Safety Board.
• The Ohio State Highway Patrol said that 56-year-old Fredrick Anderson was struck by a CSX train that was traveling south on an active rail track near Latcha Road and Cummings Road in Lake Township.
• Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene.
• NTSB is sending two investigators to the scene.
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