Last Friday (June 22, 2012) the NC Legislature passed an insurance bill (HB 237), allegedly to help the N.C. Industrial Commission track employers to make sure they obey the law and purchase workers'’ compensation insurance when they have three or more employees. This bill keeps information confidential that is sent from the Rate Bureau (the [...]
Today’s guest post comes to us from Tom Domer of Wisconsin. The connection between unsafe workplaces and the increased frequency of work injuries seems like a no brainer. A study released by NCCI Holdings indicated worker’s compensation claims rose by 3% during 2010 (the first rise in frequency in over a dozen years). The [...]
A television station in Raleigh, North Carolina (NBC-17) reported the other week that a paving contractor was awarded a new contract because its bid was $6,000 lower than other bids. The bids ranged from $996,000 to $1.2 million. Nothing unusual about that, except the winning company, Triangle Grading and Paving Company, has "dozens more construction-related [...]
Today’s post comes to us from our friend, attorney Jon Gelman of New Jersey. In a dramatic turn of events based upon pubic outrage, an insurance company has reversed its decision and now decided to provide workers’ compensation benefits to a first responder who was injured while providing assistance to tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri. [...]
Over the years I’ve seen a handful of workers’ compensation adjusters who seem to forget that injured employees are real people who have families and are going through a difficult time, physically and psychologically, because of a workplace accident. Adjusters have complete authority over people who are subject to their control. In 1971, a Stanford psychology professor wanted to [...]
Have you heard the story about the woman who ordered some hot coffee from McDonald’s, spilled it on her lap, burned herself, and sued McDonald’s for millions of dollars? Ridiculous, right? It’s the poster story for so-called “frivolous law suits.” McDonald’s had already received and ignored over 700 reports that their coffee had burned [...]
Last week we posted on how Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which would require that every American must have health insurance, has been struck down by a U.S. Circuit Court. However, the Obama administration and 26 states filed appeals against this ruling, and the Supreme Court is widely expected to rule on the appeal this fall. [...]
On September 28th, 2011, the Obama administration and 26 states filed appeals to a lower court ruling that struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act (the Obama health care law) that required every American to have health insurance. The Supreme Court is widely expected to rule on the appeal this fall, and its [...]
This article originally appeared in the Jernigan Law Firm Summer 2011 newsletter. Without a major public outcry, the original workers’ compensation bill proposed to the North Carolina legislature would likely have passed. That would have been a disaster for workers’ in our state. We would like to sincerely thank everyone who participated. Let’s make sure [...]
This guest post comes to us from our colleague Edgar Romano at Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP in New York. Many courageous first responders, who saved lives at Ground Zero, have since been diagnosed with cancer, and yet the U.S. government does not pay for their treatment. This Saturday, September 10, CNN will air Terror In [...]