Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Tough Luck for Dismissed North Dakota Workers’ Comp Employees

Mar 3 2009 // Former employees of North Dakota’s Workforce Safety and Insurance agency have struggled to pursue claims that they were illegally fired for spotlighting questionable activities at the agency. A judge has thrown out...

Gov. Hoeven to Name North Dakota Workers’ Compensation Director Soon

Mar 3 2009 // Gov. John Hoeven’s staff attorney says the governor will soon name a a permanent executive director for the state workers’ compensation agency. Ryan Bernstein, Hoeven’s staff attorney, says the governor...

California AG Sues to Block Fraudulent Workers’ Comp Scheme

Feb 27 2009 // California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a lawsuit to stop the Contractors Asset Protection Association Inc. from engaging in what he called a “sophisticated and fraudulent scheme” to cheat the...

OSHA Cites Wisconsin Excavation Firm for Cave-In Hazards

Feb 27 2009 // A northern Wisconsin excavating company purposely risked workers to potential trench cave-ins and was cited for safety violations that carry nearly $700,000 in fines, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration...

No Jail Time for Former North Dakota Workers’ Comp Director

Feb 27 2009 // North Dakota’s former workers compensation director has been given a two-year deferred sentence with no jail time and a $2,000 fine for misspending public money. The deferred sentence means Sandy Blunt’s record...

Audit Hits Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling

Feb 27 2009 // An audit of Minnesota’s worker’s compensation system has found that insurers are mishandling a growing number of claims, including by paying injured workers less than they deserve. The report from the...

Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Rates on Downswing

Feb 27 2009 // Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon says rates for workers’ compensation insurance continue to decrease in his state, based on a recent report from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI)...

Missouri Court Rejects Labor Challenge to Workers’ Compensation Law

Feb 26 2009 // The state Supreme Court rejected labor union challenges Tuesday to a 2005 law that limited the ability of some injured Missourians to get benefits under the state’s workers’ compensation system. Business groups...

Appeals Court Supports Store Manager in Employee Safety Case

Feb 26 2009 // An Arkansas Appeals Court has upheld the ruling of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission that the night manager of a grocery story is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for injuries sustained...

Wyoming Workers’ Comp. Bill Gets Committee Approval

Feb 25 2009 // A Wyoming Senate committee approved a bill that would expand benefits for people injured on the job, including cost-of-living adjustments for workers on permanent disability. House Bill 54 would raise benefits for families...

Former North Dakota Workers’ Comp Chief Faces Sentencing

Feb 25 2009 // A lawyer for former North Dakota workers compensation director Sandy Blunt says his client should not get jail time for his felony conviction. A jury convicted Blunt last December of misspending more than $10,000 in public...

Ohio Approves New Workers’ Compensation Deductible Program

Feb 23 2009 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has created a new deductible program, the first-ever for BWC, it says will give employers better control of their workers’ compensation insurance spending and provide an...

Vermont Weighs Expansion of Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Feb 22 2009 // Vermont lawmakers will consider a bill that would extend workers’ compensation to cover mental and emotional problems suffered on the job. But the proposal is getting a cool reception from the insurance...

Michigan Blue Cross Wins Workers’ Compensation Battle

Feb 22 2009 // Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said he is not giving up in his battle and will appeal a judge’s ruling in support of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s ownership of workers’ compensation insurance...

Wyoming Introduces Workers’ Comp Legislation

Feb 22 2009 // Legislation has been introduced in the Wyoming House that could hold oil and gas operators liable for their own negligence resulting in injuries and fatalities on their job sites in the state. House Bill 273, introduced by...

Colorado Casualty Introduces Workers’ Comp in Nevada

Feb 22 2009 // Englewood, Colo.-based Colorado Casualty, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, has added workers’ compensation coverage to its commercial insurance product line in Nevada. “Bringing workers’...

Ohio Therapist to Repay Workers’ Compensation Board $2.1M

Feb 20 2009 // An Ohio man convicted of performing physical therapy on injured workers without a license has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. U.S. District Court Judge Herman Weber sentenced Michael Stinson in federal court...

Immigrants’ Advocate Protests South Carolina Workers’ Comp Limits

Feb 20 2009 // South Carolina legislators are pushing a bill to cut workers’ compensation benefits for illegal immigrants in an effort to strengthen what’s already one of the nation’s toughest laws aimed at keeping...

Okla. Bill Requiring Senate to OK Work Comp Judges Moves Ahead

Feb 20 2009 // A resolution calling for a vote of the people to determine if gubernatorial Workers’ Compensation Court appointments in Oklahoma should require Senate confirmation passed a House Committee, the state House of...

New York State Insurance Fund: Anti-Fraud Efforts Saved $20.7M

Feb 19 2009 // New York State insurance Fund (NYSIF) Executive Director David P. Wehner said the NYSIF’s 2008 fraud prevention program accounted for more than $20 million in total savings — a record amount exceeding all prior...