workers’ compensation News

Accountant Charged With $10 Million in Construction Workers’ Compensation Fraud

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. announced two indictments of a certified public accountant for defrauding the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) of more than $10 million in workers’ compensation insurance premium payments. Accountant Steve Lyon was charged with …

Maryland Firefighter’s Widow Wins Death Benefits Opposed by County Employer

A Maryland widow is entitled to her late husband’s workers’ compensation death benefits because she was dependent upon her husband at the time of his disablement, a Maryland appeals court has ruled. The appeals panel overturned a lower court that …

Mechanic Charged with Criminally Negligent Homicide in Fatal NYC Elevator Plunge

An elevator mechanic’s failure to execute basic safety procedures caused an elevator at a New York City building to plunge six stories and crush a co-worker to death, prosecutors said Tuesday. Mechanic Peter Milatz, 67, was charged with criminally negligent …

‘Insufficient Support’ Blamed for Collapse of Georgia Courthouse Under Renovation

Construction crews had placed “insufficient support” beneath part of an upper floor that collapsed during renovations on the 124-year-old federal courthouse in Savannah, according to the government agency overseeing the project. Three construction workers were injured April 11 when a …

One Worker Missing After Explosion at Massachusetts Chemical Plant

One worker is missing and the building is severely damaged after an early morning explosion at a pharmaceutical chemical plant in a business park in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Five workers were in the building at the time of the explosion. Four …

California Family Members Arraigned in $2.1M Insurance Fraud Schemes

Four Merced, California, family members were arraigned this week for multiple counts of insurance fraud after a California Department of Insurance investigation revealed the businesses owned and operated by the residents allegedly underreported payroll by millions of dollars. The underreporting …

Manhattan DA Brings Charges in Alleged Affordable Housing Construction Fraud

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced indictments charging eight individuals and six companies with fraud and corruption within the construction industry, including conspiring to fraudulently use minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) as pass-through entities to obtain contracts …

Virginia Workers’ Compensation Review Panel Clarifies COVID-19 Presumption

Virginia’s statutory presumption that a COVID-19 disability of a first responder is work-related, which went into effect July 1, 2020, does not require that the employee be diagnosed with COVID-19 on or after that date, a state review panel has …

Massachusetts Hospital Lacked Workplace Violence Protections, OSHA Judge Finds

A federal administrative law judge has determined that the manager of Fuller Hospital in Attleboro, Massachusetts exposed employees to workplace violence without adequate protections in 2019, particularly at times when hospital staffing was low. The ruling follows an inspection by …

Virginia School: Workers’ Comp Bars $40M Suit by Teacher Shot by 6-Year Old

The Newport News public school board says the $40 million lawsuit filed against it by the teacher who was shot by a six-year old is barred by the state’s workers’ compensation law that is the exclusive remedy for workplace injuries. …