Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Connecticut Supreme Court Denies Wife’s Emotional Distress Workers’ Comp Claim
Aug 8 2016 // A Connecticut woman who found her 77-year-old husband crushed to death under an all-terrain vehicle when she brought him lunch at his job cannot sue his employer for severe emotional injuries she suffered, the state...
CastlePoint National Conserved by California Regulator to Protect Policyholders
Aug 8 2016 // CastlePoint National Insurance Co., the sole remaining carrier member of the Tower Group, was placed into conservation in late July by order of the San Francisco Superior Court to protect policyholders and injured workers...
Planning for the Worst: Terrorism and Workplace Violence
Aug 8 2016 // Several recent manmade events, including the attack at Pulse nightclub in Florida and the Belgium airport terrorist bombing, highlight the vulnerability of the workplace. Workplace violence costs employers more than $120...
Massachusetts Lowers Employer Assessment
Aug 8 2016 // The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) reduced the assessment that private employers pay to the state on workers’ compensation policies to 5.6 percent of the policy premium for the new fiscal...
New York Workers’ Compensation Loss Costs Going Up 9.3%
Aug 8 2016 // New York has approved a 9.3 percent average hike in workers’ compensation loss costs effective Oct. 1. New York businesses, while not pleased, see the hike as necessary in order to keep the insurance market stable...
Texas Manufacturer Faces $99K in Penalties Over Workplace Hazards
Aug 5 2016 // A Texas-based pre-cast concrete structure manufacturer has been cited by federal safety officials for 17 repeat, serious workplace safety violations and faces penalties totaling $99, 248. The Turner Company LLP was cited...
Connecticut High Court Blocks Injury Suit Against Contractor
Aug 5 2016 // Two workers injured in a power plant explosion that killed six other people in 2010 cannot sue a contractor for negligence, the state Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled. Justices issued a 6-1 decision saying O&G...
OSHA Cites Massachusetts Firm for Chemical Explosion
Aug 4 2016 // A Massachusetts chemicals manufacturer has been cited by federal labor officials following a January explosion that injured four workers. The U.S. Department of Labor says an investigation by the Occupational Safety and...
West Virginia Workers’ Comp Rates to Decrease by 14%
Aug 4 2016 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance filed a proposed drop of 14.7 percent in workers’ compensation loss cost rates with the West Virginia Insurance Commissioner. In response, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray...
Atlas General Insurance Services Announces New Online Workers’ Compensation Platform, GoQuote
Aug 3 2016 // San Diego, CA, August 3, 2016 – Atlas General Insurance Services, LLC (‘Atlas’), a national multi-line program administrator, announced the launch of GoQuote, a new online quoting system for managed...
Wisconsin Shipyard Faces $1.4M in Penalties for Lead Exposures
Aug 2 2016 // A Wisconsin shipyard faces nearly $1.4 million in penalties after it exposed workers to unsafe levels of lead, the U.S. Department of Labor announced. Officials said the exposure to lead and other heavy metals at Fraser...
Texas Contractor Fined $124K for Trench Hazards, Safety Violations
Aug 2 2016 // Federal safety officials on July 28 cited Oscar Renda Contracting Inc. for safety violations at a site in Houston and proposed penalties of $124,300. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health...
San Antonio Specialty Foods Producer Fined $104K Over Working Conditions
Jul 29 2016 // Federal safety officials have cited a specialty food producer with 21 serious violations after receiving a complaint about unsafe working conditions at the company’s San Antonio facility. The U.S. Department of...
Brokers Assess Current Construction Insurance Market: Thumbs Up
Jul 29 2016 // Amid ups and downs, the construction market has nevertheless enjoyed steady growth over the past four years. Now construction insurance specialists believe the market is really heating up. The competition has carriers...
CastlePoint National Conserved by California Regulator to Protect Policyholders
Jul 29 2016 // CastlePoint National Insurance Co., the sole remaining carrier member of the Tower Group, was placed into conservation on Thursday by order of the San Francisco Superior Court to protect policyholders and injured workers...
Florida Business Owner Accused of Stealing $1M in Workers’ Comp Scheme
Jul 29 2016 // Owner of a Fort Myers, Fla., staffing and payroll services firm was arrested in mid-July over the alleged theft of more than $1 million, according to a statement from Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and the Department...
Oklahoma High Court: Workers’ Comp Icy Sidewalk ‘Slip and Fall’ Claim Compensable
Jul 25 2016 // The Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed the decision of an Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission administrative law judge and ruled that a workers’ comp claim for a slip and fall on an icy sidewalk next to an...
Workers’ Comp Disability Guidelines Withdrawn from Guidelines.gov
Jul 25 2016 // The Work Loss Data Institute (WLDI) has withdrawn its Official Disability Guidelines from the National Guideline Clearinghouse, a public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, operated by the U.S....
Oklahoma Labor Department: OSHA Penalties to Rise Aug. 1
Jul 25 2016 // The Oklahoma Department of Labor is warning businesses in that state that civil penalty amounts assessed by federal safety regulators for workplace safety violations are going up beginning Aug. 1. The Oklahoma DOL says...
Navigating California’s High Workers’ Comp Rates and Excessive Lawsuits
Jul 25 2016 // California employers routinely pay the highest insurance rates for workers’ compensation in the country. The increasing rates are due to several factors including rising medical costs and an aging workforce. In this...
