Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oklahoma Governor Challenged on Workers’ Comp System Changes
Jul 16 2014 // Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Dorman criticized Republican Gov. Mary Fallin for changes to Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system that Dorman said are blocking injured workers’ access to medical...
A.I.M. Mutual Names Director of Injury Prevention and Worksite Wellness
Jul 16 2014 // The A.I.M Mutual Insurance Companies, a workers’ compensation insurer based in Burlington, Mass., promoted Wayne Grudzien to director of injury prevention and worksite wellness (IPWW). Grudzien brings 28 years of...
Texas Shipyard Faces $305K in OSHA Penalties
Jul 15 2014 // Texas-based Sterling Shipyard LP has been cited for 16 serious, repeat and failure-to-abate violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for continuing to expose workers...
16 Laid Off at Oklahoma Workers’ Comp Commission
Jul 11 2014 // Oklahoma’s Workers’ Compensation Commission has laid off 16 employees as the organization transitions from a court-based system to an administrative one. Commission Executive Director Rick Farmer confirmed the...
Pennsylvania Man Gets $100K in OSHA Whistleblower Lawsuit
Jul 9 2014 // A Pittsburgh-area company that operates an industrial park and intermodal terminal has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a whistleblower suit filed by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA sued...
New York State Insurance Fund Celebrating Its 100th Year
Jul 9 2014 // The New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF), a New York State agency established to provide a guaranteed source of workers’ compensation insurance coverage, is celebrating its centennial anniversary this month. NYSIF...
12 Companies Approved to Self-Insure for Workers’ Comp in Texas
Jul 9 2014 // The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) approved 12 renewals of the Certificates of Authority for companies to self-insure their workers’ compensation claims for a one-year period under the DWC...
Texas Doctor Gets 5 Years in Prison on Workers’ Comp Fraud Charges
Jul 8 2014 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that Howard T. Douglas III, M.D. of Frisco was sentenced to five years’ confinement. On May 16, 2014, a Travis County jury convicted Douglas on felony workers’ compensation...
South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Loss Costs Cut
Jul 8 2014 // South Carolina employers should see their workers’ compensation premiums go down this year since regulators have approved an average 7.4 percent decrease in the state’s loss costs. Director of Insurance Ray...
Ousted Oregon Workers’ Compensation CEO Plans to Sue
Jul 7 2014 // The man fired as leader of Oregon’s workers compensation agency after just three months on the job has filed notice that he plans to sue over his ouster. John Plotkin alleges his predecessor at SAIF Corp. wanted the...
Delays in Thousands of Oklahoma Worker Comp Cases From Court Move
Jul 7 2014 // Hearings for thousands of injured workers will be delayed this month while the state’s workers compensation system is split into two agencies – each with its own staff, offices and equipment. Scheduled hearings in...
Firing Fears
Jul 7 2014 // Injured workers who suffer from anxiety over fears of being fired exhibit poorer return-to-work outcomes than those that trust their employers not to fire them. Trust in the workplace is one of the more important...
DIR: California’s Alternative Security Program Frees $7.5B for Businesses
Jul 2 2014 // Department of Industrial Relations Director Christine Baker has approved the implementation of the 2014/15 Alternative Security Program, which DIR says frees $7.54 billion in working capital and provides self-insured...
All Risks Taps Julien as California Workers’ Comp Underwriter
Jun 30 2014 // Danielle Julien has been hired by wholesaler All Risks Ltd. as a workers’ compensation brokerage underwriter located in San Diego, Calif. Julien will write workers’ compensation business with retail agents in...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Agency Appeals Overcharge Ruling
Jun 30 2014 // The state is appealing a court ruling that says Ohio’s state insurance fund for injured workers set up an illegal rating system that resulted in employers being overcharged nearly $860 million over several years. The...
AmTrust to Acquire Florida Workers’ Comp Insurer OptaComp
Jun 30 2014 // AmTrust Financial Services Inc. announced that it has agreed to purchase Comp Options Insurance Co. Inc., a Jacksonville, Florida-based workers’ compensation insurer and a subsidiary of Blue Cross & Blue Shield...
Del. Lawmakers Approve Bill Aimed at Lowering Workers’ Comp Medical Costs
Jun 27 2014 // Delaware lawmakers have given final approval to legislation aimed at lowering workers’ compensation insurance rates in Delaware. The bill approved unanimously by the Senate on Wednesday calls for a 33 percent...
ICW Group Offering Workers’ Comp Insurance in Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey
Jun 26 2014 // ICW Group Insurance Cos., a multiline property/casualty insurer based in San Diego, Calif., announced it has begun writing workers’ compensation insurance in Georgia, Indiana and New Jersey. ICW Group said its...
Walls Named VP – Communications, Strategic Analysis at Safety National
Jun 26 2014 // Safety National Casualty Corp., a St. Louis, Mo., provider of excess workers’ compensation and large casualty insurance offerings, announced that Mark Walls has joined the company as vice president of communications...
Safety Is Paramount for Texas Mutual CEO Gergasko
Jun 25 2014 // Richard Gergasko Richard Gergasko, CEO of workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., describes himself as an insurance geek. Trained as an actuary, he’s been involved in the insurance business...
