NM - Task Force Recommends Increasing Attorney Fee, Discovery Advance
05/07/2024 | 0
A task force created by New Mexico lawmakers to analyze workers’ compensation attorney fees recommended upping the cap by 33% and increasing the current employer-paid discovery advance by 16%.
The House Memorial 83 Attorney Fee Cap Task Force in a report published Friday said the maximum attorney fee should be increased to $30,000 from $22,500 to account for inflation since the cap was set in 2013.
The task force also recommended increasing the employer-paid discovery advance to $3,500 from $3,000.
According to the group’s report, the task force seriously considered a bigger inc...
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In a case of first impression, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that COVID-19 can be an occupational disease under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Case: Life Care Centers v. ICAO, No. 23CA1295, 05/02/2024, published.
Facts: Vincent Gaines worked at a skilled nursing facility run by Life Care Centers of America. On May 2, 2020, the Colorado National Guard tested all facility residents and staff members for COVID-19. Gaines tested negative.
The first positive test of a resident was returned on May 24, 2020. Gaines became sick with COVID-19 shortly thereafter. On June 2, 2020, he was h...
The Alaska Supreme Court upheld the denial of a pilot’s claim for additional benefits for conditions he blamed on his injuries from a 1985 plane crash.
Case: Jespersen v. Tri-City Air, No. S-18526, 05/03/2024, published.
Facts: Jay Jespersen worked for Tri-City Air. He was piloting a small plane near Quinhagak in November 1985 when the plane crashed. Jespersen sustained multiple injuries, including several rib fractures and a vertebral compression fracture. He went home to Minnesota to recover.
In Minnesota, Jespersen first received treatment from a medical doctor but later changed to...
A Texas appellate court revived a civil suit against a nonsubscribing employer for the amputation of a worker’s leg after he stepped on a nail at the employer’s job site.
Case: Donaldson v. Pro-Craft General Contractors Inc., No. 02-23-00271-CV, 05/02/2024, published.
Facts: Robert John Aquino III worked for Pro-Craft General Contractors Inc. overseeing water damage mitigation projects.
Pro-Craft sent a crew to a customer’s home to pull up baseboards and flooring and set up drying equipment. After the customer called to complain about the crew’s work — cla...
I had the pleasure of speaking on Law Day in Plainfield Workers’ Compensation Court on May 1 and wanted to share with readers part of the discussion in our session, namely that of the New Jersey authorized vehicle rule contained in NJSA 34:15-36.
This is one of the most unknown but significant rules about when work starts and when work ends. Practitioners, adjusters and employers are far more aware of the premises rule, the special mission rule and the paid travel time rule than they are of the authorized vehicle rule.
Since the major overhaul of the New J...
A federal appellate court ruled that South Carolina’s workers’ compensation statutes did not deprive a trial judge of subject matter jurisdiction over a civil suit by three workers who were badly burned in a plastics plant fire.
Case: Wideman v. Innovative Fibers LLC, No. 23-1163, 05/02/2024, published.
Facts: Innovative Fibers LLC and Stein Fibers Ltd. owned and operated a plant in South Carolina that converted recycled plastics into polyester fibers.
The plant had two gas-fueled ovens encased in steel scaffolding superstructures that supported platforms above. The platforms pr...
MA - Window-Cleaning Company Cited for Worker's 29-Story Fatal Fall
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Thursday that it cited a Boston-based window cleaning company over the death of an employee who fell 29 stories.
OSHA cited Sky Safety Inc. for two “willful,” four “serious” and two “repeat” violations and assessed $447,087 in proposed penalties following the October 2023 incident in Boston’s financial district.
Sky Safety failed to ensure that personal fall protections and a rope descent system were in proper working order, did not inspect safety equipment for damage and other deterior...
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday said it cited a Connecticut home care agency after a licensed practical nurse was killed by a patient during a home visit in Willimantic, Connecticut.
OSHA cited Jordan Health Care Inc. and New England Home Care Inc., both doing business as Elara Caring, for one willful violation for failing to develop adequate measures to protect workers from workplace violence.
OSHA issued Dallas-based Elara Caring $163,627 in proposed penalties. The company has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed penalties.
The cit...
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that provides first responders with supplemental compensation if they are diagnosed with work-related post-traumatic stress disorder.
Kemp on Wednesday signed House Bill 451 requiring that all statewide public entities offer supplemental, illness-specific insurance benefits, either through an insurer or self-insured, for emergency responders who suffer from PTSD due to line-of-duty traumatic events that prevent them from continuing to work.
The law provides first responders with a lump-sum $3,000 payment and up to 36 months of disability and income repla...
The Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation will vote on posting draft annual reports when it meets May 15.
Commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to approve the posting of the CHSWC 2023 annual report and the 2023 Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program annual report.
CHSWC members will also hear an update on the Department of Industrial Relations’ efforts to fight fraud.
The agenda for the meeting says members will discuss potential changes to the frequency of meetings, topics covered in meetings and overall goals of the c...
The Ohio Supreme Court upheld a determination that a worker with incomplete paraplegia was not entitled to a loss-of-use award for his legs because he retained at least some ability to walk.
Billy Ottinger worked for B&B Wrecking & Excavation Inc. He injured his spinal cord in a fall from a roof in June 2018.
The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation allowed Ottinger’s claim for multiple injuries, including incomplete paraplegia.
Ottinger had some sensation in his lower extremities when he arrived at the emergency room, but he was unable to move his legs. He regained some...
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals partially overturned an award of benefits that was based on the opinion of an independent medical examiner, ruling that there was no adequate explanation for why the treating physician’s ratings were rejected.
Case: Alston v. DOES, Nos. 22-AA-0957 and 23-AA-0001, 05/02/2024, published.
Facts: Connie Alston worked as a train operator for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority. Alston injured her right arm and shoulder at work in March 2018.
After nearly three years of treatment, Dr. Joel Fechter reported in June 2021 that Als...
A New York appellate court upheld a grant of summary judgment for a worker on his Labor Law claim arising from a wood-cutting accident.
Case: Cevallos v. WBB Construction Inc., No. 2022-01655, 05/01/2024, published.
Facts: Hernan Cevallos allegedly suffered injuries while working on a construction site trying to cut a piece of wood.
WBB Construction Inc. was the general contractor for the project, and Madison 33 Owner LLC owned the property.
According to Cevallos, he had been instructed to cut the wood, but he was unable to reach it from the ground. He found an A-frame ladder in his w...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was entitled to partial summary judgment on his Labor Law claims and that the individual owners of the property were entitled to summary judgment dismissing the indemnification claims against them.
Case: Guaman-Sanango v. 57 East 72nd Corp., Nos. 2021-04831 and 2022-03624, 05/01/2024, published.
Facts: Segundo Guaman-Sanango worked for GSK Contracting Corp. He allegedly was injured when he fell from a ladder while doing renovation work in an apartment.
The building was owned by 57 East 72nd Corp., and Rialto Management Corp. managed the bu...
The California Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would treat electronic signatures the same as traditional wet signatures for Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board proceedings.
The Assembly on Thursday voted 73-0 to pass AB 2337, by Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach. The bill would amend the definition of signature to include electronic records and electronic signatures for WCAB hearings. The bill would also allow signature requirements in the Labor Code to be satisfied by an electronic signature.
“Electronic signatures were used effectively in workers’ compen...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that requires workers’ compensation payments for emergency services that aren’t subject to a maximum reimbursement allowance be set at 250% of what Medicare pays for the same service.
DeSantis on Thursday enacted House Bill 989, a multifaceted measure that also gives the state some oversight of the association that serves as a backstop and pays claims when self-insured employers become insolvent, and it modifies requirements relating to a non-comp program that provides benefits to firefighters with cancer.
HB 989 would direct the Department...