AG Secures $1.7M Settlement Over Contractor’s Worker Misclassification Scheme Frederick, Maryland-based W.G./Welch Mechanical Contractors, LLC will pay more than $1.7 million to settle a District of Columbia lawsuit accusing it of misclassifying about 500 construction workers as independent contractors, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced. Under the consent order, Welch must pay $1 million […]

  Appeals Board: Fee Schedule Cap Applies to Previously Denied, Unauthorized Care The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board ruled in a published opinion that an employer ordered to pay for previously denied, unauthorized medical treatment is not required to pay more than the amounts allowed under the state’s workers’ compensation medical fee schedule. In affirming […]

  Nippon Dynawave Seeks to Dismiss Widow’s Lawsuit Over Mill Disaster Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. is asking Cowlitz County Superior Court in Washington to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed in September by the widow of a worker who was among 11 workers killed in the May 26 chemical tank collapse at the company’s Longview […]

  Court Revives Temp Worker’s Injury Lawsuit Against Concrete Company The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Oct. 7 that a temp worker injured in a cement mixer can pursue negligence claims against Salisbury, N.C.-based Johnson Concrete Company, reversing a trial court decision that the Workers’ Compensation Act barred the lawsuit. The holding […]

  Labor Group Seeks Independent Review of Workers’ Comp Board The Manitoba Federation of Labor is calling for an independent review of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Manitoba after a review of 2025 provincial reports found Manitoba workers have had Canada’s highest injury rate for a third straight year. The board insures more than 40,000 […]

  Construction Firm Fined $160,000 After Carpenter Falls to His Death W G Carter Limited, an Oxfordshire, England-based construction company, was fined 120,000 British pounds ($159,000) and ordered to pay £5,247 in costs after a carpenter died in a fall from the first floor while working on a home in 2022. The company pleaded guilty […]

  Court Finds Worker Likely to Prevail in Mold Exposure Claim Against Town Tennessee’s Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims ruled at a Sept. 9 expedited hearing  on a summary judgment that a Town of Oakland activity center coordinator is likely to prevail at trial on her workers’ compensation claim for illness she attributes to mold […]

  Court Rejects Insurer’s Bid for Second Injury Fund Reimbursement The New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed a Compensation Appeals Board decision that had granted ESIS, Inc., the former workers’ compensation insurer for BAE Systems, Inc., reimbursement from the state’s Special Fund for Second Injuries for benefits paid to an employee who suffered a work-related back […]

  Wisconsin Cuts Average Workers’ Comp Rates 2% Wisconsin employers will pay lower workers’ compensation insurance premiums for policies incepting on or after Oct. 1 after state officials approved an average 1.97% rate reduction. The reduction is expected to save businesses an estimated $36 million over the next year. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development […]

  $95K PTSD Settlement Approved for Officer Involved in Fatal Shootings The Wauwatosa Common Council in Wisconsin voted 11-0 on Sept. 29 to approve a $95,000 workers’ compensation settlement for former police officer Joseph Mensah, related to a PTSD claim he filed in April 2025, which will be paid through the city’s workers’ compensation fund […]