Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed 23 bills on June 17, including legislation that would have outlawed sending or reading text messages while driving. Lawmakers approved the texting ban last month, but Perry called it an “overreach” and “government effort to …
Oklahoma’s unemployment rate declined in the month of May. The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission reported that unemployment in Oklahoma fell from 5.6 percent in April to 5.3 percent last month. According to OESC statistics, there were 91,930 people unemployed in …
Illinois’ attorney general has praised parts of the recently approved workers’ compensation overhaul, but she says it would be a “gross overstatement” to call the system reformed. Lisa Madigan said even with the overhaul, the standard for proving that taxpayer …
A St. Louis-based health care organization will no longer hire smokers to work at any of its seven area hospitals, starting next month. Job applicants at SSM Health Care will be asked if they have used tobacco in the last …
Frank Fogle, a Barnesville, Ohio, (Belmont County) truck driver, has been sentenced for fraud after he concealed his employment in order to continue receiving workers’ compensation benefits. Fogle was found guilty in a Franklin County courtroom of a fifth degree …
Recently passed Illinois House Bill 1698 provides that the governor will appoint all arbitrator positions for the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. The governor has not yet signed the bill, but the Governor’s Office has set up a Web page for …
Bob Devereaux has joined the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission as Fraud Prevention and Efficiency Controller. He comes to the Commission from the private sector where he has held a variety of positions in accounting, finance, operations, internal audit and internal …
Michigan-based workers’ compensation firm Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. has appointed Frank Freund as chief financial officer. Freund is replacing Ron Schoen, who served as chief financial officer for the company for the past 23 years. As chief financial officer, Freund …
A federal appeals court handed a major defeat to Wall Street banks in ruling that a financial news service did not misappropriate their analyst research for its website. Reversing a lower court ruling, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals …
Blue collar workers hired through temporary staffing agencies often aren’t paid fairly and have difficulties filing workers’ compensation, according to a new study by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Workers advocates say the problems are caused by documentation deficiencies …
