workers’ compensation News

Woman Dies in West Virginia’s Second Coal Mine Fatality This Year

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia woman died Wednesday more than a week after an accident at a southern West Virginia coal mine, Gov. Jim Justice said. Ashley Cogar, 33, of Erbacon, was injured at the Wyco Surface Mine, …

Painting Contractor Cited by OSHA After Worker Falls 80 Feet from Water Tower

A New Jersey contractor whose employee fell 80 feet to the bottom of a Bayville water tower has been cited by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for allegedly failing to provide required safety equipment that could have …

Former Postal Worker Sentenced to Probation for Workers’ Compensation Fraud

\A former U.S. Postal Service employee in Delaware who defrauded taxpayers of almost $100,000 in workers’ compensation benefits has been sentenced to probation. Lakisha Hines was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in March to one count of federal employee compensation …

Georgia Appeals Court Questions Insolvency Pool’s Subrogation in Comp Cases

Georgia employers and their workers’ compensation insurers can rest a little easier after an appeals court this week narrowed the circumstances in which a state guaranty association can seek reimbursement on claims paid after staffing firms’ insurance carriers become insolvent. …

AM Best Revises A.I.M. Mutual Outlook to Positive, Affirms ‘Excellent’ Ratings

AM Best reports that it has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of members of A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies. The ratings agency has also affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and …

Washington Adult Home Operator Facing Felony Charge in Alleged Workers’ Comp Scam

A Spokane, Washington woman who ran an adult family home while claiming she was too injured to work faces a felony charge in a $60,000 workers’ compensation fraud case. Serah Kamau, 52, reportedly operated her business, Brookhouse Adult Family Home, …

SC Supreme Court Urges Legislative Fix to Pre-existing Health Issue in Workers’ Comp

South Carolina lawmakers next year may be asked to revamp a workers’ compensation employment test that judges have relied on for more than 50 years, if the state Supreme Court has its way. The court last week said that a …

California Insurance Commissioner OKs Lower Workers’ Comp Benchmark Rate

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today issued a decreased pure premium rate for workers’ compensation insurance, lowering the annual benchmark rate from $1.41 to $1.38 per $100 of payroll— representing a 2.1% percent decrease from last year. The advisory rate …

Tennessee Sheriff Pleads Not Guilty to Using Prison Labor for Personal Profit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A sitting Tennessee sheriff pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he illegally profited from the work of jail inmates under his supervision and housed dozens of them in a home outside of the prison without …

Insurers Entitled to Second Injury Fund Payments Even If No Longer Writing in State

A workers’ compensation insurer is entitled to continue to receive reimbursements from the Massachusetts second injury fund even after it stops writing business in the state, the state’s high court has ruled in an opinion reversing itself on the issue. …